eBay reaches $55.7 million settlement with Massachusetts couple that was "terrorized" in stalking scandal

CBS News ^ | July 28, 2026 | Neal Riley & Tammy Mutasa

[Twotone]

eBay has agreed to pay $55.7 million in a settlement with a Massachusetts couple that was the victim of a bizarre harassment and cyberstalking campaign orchestrated by former employees of the company.

Ina and David Steiner, who run the trade publication ECommerceBytes from their home in Natick, started receiving online threats and upsetting deliveries to their home in 2019, including a bloody pig mask, live spiders and a book on surviving the death of a spouse. Pornographic magazines addressed to David Steiner were purposefully sent to their neighbors, and their home was listed on Craigslist as a nightly destination for "singles, couples and swingers."

"We have had to fight so hard along the way that it's kind of hard to believe that it's now over, but we're very happy about it," Ina Steiner said.

"That allows us to hopefully live the rest of our lives in peace," David Steiner said.

Law enforcement was able to trace a rental van that followed David Steiner one day back to an eBay employee, and in 2020, the Department of Justice charged seven eBay executives and employees with cyberstalking. Some executives even went to prison for their role in the scheme.

"It was terrifying to know that this online harassment actually ended up right on our doorstep in real life, it was so scary," Ina Steiner said.

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TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: cyberstalking; ebay; massachusetts; stalking

[CFW]

They deserved every penny of it.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Why did the ebay people do this?

[dynoman]

There’s something broke in America that will never be fixed.

[Blurb2350]

Yeah, there’s got to be more to this story.

[PeterPrinciple]

Federal prosecutors say leaders at the company were enraged by the couple’s newsletter and critical comments from readers who posted on their website.

“Take her down,” former CEO Devin Wenig texted.

“I want to see ashes. As long as it takes. Whatever it takes,” former chief communications officer Steve Wymer wrote.

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for those that only read headlines

[z3n]

Yeah, there’s got to be more to this story.

~~~

That was my first thought too but I didn’t click the link, so I assumed the motives for all this was buried in there.

[Dr. Sivana]

“I want to see ashes. As long as it takes. Whatever it takes,” former chief communications officer Steve Wymer wrote.

This informs us that the work pool is infested with dark-tetrad personalities who will do wicked things if given legal/financial cover.

[libertylover]

I hate eBay. Buying stuff is OK, but selling was a nightmare.

[Jamestown1630]

The couple produce a newsletter on e-commerce that had reported critically of Ebay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal

[mikey_hates_everything]

They have run stories in their trade publication, “ECommerceBytes”, that were critical of eBay.

[Beowulf9]

Wow.

[logi_cal869]

Thanks for that.

The settlement was far too low IMHO.

[KarlInOhio]

"No one should ever have been subjected to what the Steiners endured in 2019, and I'm saddened by it, especially because it occurred during my time as CEO of eBay," Wenig said. "The harassment was deliberately done in secret and without my knowledge, as established by an independent law firm review, a federal probe, and the sworn testimony of the security employee convicted as the 'ringleader.'"

This is called implausible deniability. Worst excuse since King Henry II asked "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"

[algore]

There was, I remember when this broke and 2 employees got busted, but that was a long time ago.

Basically a vp and their head of security got all butt hurt because these people had a blog where they were trashing Ebay, keep in mind this is back in the days where you would buy something and send the seller a check back in the early days and the ebay guys decided to go all Mafia and teach the bloggers a lesson.

they had criminal charges and went to jail, I am shocked that the civil part was not settled back then

[EinNYC]

I was an eBay member for 17 years, buying and occasionally selling. A few years ago, I bought some items, and when they arrived, I saw that they were obviously used, even though they were listed as new. When I complained, with eBay famously advertising their guarantees, the seller sent me an old straw hat she obviously had taken from the garbage. I complained again to eBay and got crickets for an answer. They allowed this unscrupulous seller to defraud and insult buyers. I quickly quit eBay, haven’t gone to the website for many years now.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Agreed. I used to use it a lot to sell my refurbished HAM equipment. A hobby and a good cash generator. Never again. Selling is a nightmare. It takes weeks to get paid for any sale.

[libertylover]

I was selling off my garden railway collection. A guy won the auction but then demanded a discount. When I wouldn’t give him a discount he called me every name in the book via numerous eBay private messages, dozens of times, but eBay did nothing. They let ME relist the item at no additional cost, but they did NOTHING to the abuser.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The couple critized the company that they worked for.

No, I am not joking.

That was the entire thing.

[AppyPappy]

The Mafia doesn’t use texts. They know how to be untraceable.