Is Snype already finished?
craig44
Posts: 12,090 ✭✭✭✭✭
I am sure you have all heard about the giant egg Rick Probsteins new platform layed as the first round of auctions were about to end. Just read this on X from Sports Card News:
Sports Card News
@SportsCardNews
🚨Probstein BUSTED?!🚨
"Rick Probstein spent 21 years on eBay, selling nearly $1 billion worth of cards. Last month, he took the leap & launched his own auction platform: Snype.
On Monday, as the first auctions closed, everything fell apart.
"We're experiencing a system-wide technical issue due to high volume," the official statement read.
But that wasn't the real story.
A Pokemon forum user discovered something far worse: Snype's entire backend database was exposed to the open web. No authentication required.
Anyone with basic technical knowledge could access:
Full bidder & consignor information
Names, emails, addresses
Birthdates & payment information
Complete bid histories
All of it. Just sitting there.
But the security breach wasn't even the worst part. The exposed database revealed something damning: multiple accounts shared addresses linked to Probstein, his wife, & known scammer Kevin Burge.
One account placed 11,277 bids. The username? "Hunny Bunny." The email address? Rick Probstein's.
In total, 1,331 auctions were allegedly impacted. Total bids placed across them: 29,000, totaling $1.28M in bids. 96 auction “wins” are attributed to the flagged accounts.
Every suspicious account was verified as a "Super Bidder"—a status requiring eBay feedback and industry references.
But the eBay usernames provided? They don't exist. The industry references appear fabricated.
The hobby is in the middle of a shill bidding crisis. Pryan. Dr. Beckett. Fanatics Collect marketplace. All under fire for auction manipulation.
And now Rick Probstein—appears to have launched a platform specifically designed to facilitate shill bidding while leaving customer data completely exposed."
I have a feeling this is going to get messy.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Comments
Thank you Barnaby Jones.... this should get interesting should these facts pan out.....
This may be a candidate for a Federal Investigation. Would be great for some prosecutor seeking to make an easy bone.
BTW the only technical knowledge required was to simply click using the right mouse button then "inspect" or CTRL + U (which brings up the page source) . All Pii data + proof of his/their shilling was there in clear text, no tech skill involved only 1st grade level reading skills.
The moe ron may very well have provided enough rope for the Feds to hang him with if they choose. HAHAHA!
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
I hope his database doesn't include bidder information from his eBay business. I never registered on his new site. Hopefully that protects my information.
He's already trying to reconnect with eBay somehow. Go read from the link in the other thread. efour. There are posts within the past few minutes about it. Those guys are hot on the trail of a major meltdown.
I actually think the data breach is the biggest issue. Shilling is expected of this fella, but sharing bidders personal info is a whole other thing with much bigger consequences. Collectors are totally ok with being ripped off, lets see if they are ok with privacy breach ( sadly, they prob are, as long as they can get that sweet patch auto and post it on Instagram).
Wow. That's some of the most irresponsible business practices ever and even more idiotic than irresponsible.
Hey, this is part of my schtick - love it! The name just makes me smile.
How do we know that eBay may not have asked him to leave or he was about to be shown the door? If that hypothesis is not true & you're eBay, do you even let him back on?
These are serious allegations. If I'm not mistaken, there are consumer protection regulations that require affected parties of data breach to be notified of what has happened. Not adhering is no bueno. Shill bidding is considered wire fraud - a federal offense.
Erik
"The Rise and Fall of Rick Probstein" would be a good read. Was he always into poor business practices? He had to start somewhere, and according to ebay he has sold almost 6 million items since 2005. Seems like a lot of work (20 years) to throw away for greedy practices such as shilling.
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball cards
also collecting US & Canadian silver coins
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
ON ITS WAY TO NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658
i saw this flustercuck coming from 10 miles away.
sincerely,
Helen Keller, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Mr. Magoo, and Don Denkinger
What I'm curious about is how many auctions were "live." I see where 1300+ were impacted but what % is that? 1%, 50%, 90%? Was he shilling 1300/1500 auctions, 1300/50000? Not that any shilling is ok, would just help to see the whole scope of it. I have a feeling it's a considerable amount of active auctions.
I thought I read they had around 20,000 auctions in their initial launch. Could be wrong but that's what I remember reading in last couple of days... I went directly to the website that reported the receipts of what happened.
If you go read that site and assume it's 100% true (would be fantastical to make it up), it's open & shut.
Erik
^
Sadder and truer words regarding this hobby have never been spoken.
We don't always agree, but you totally nailed it.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
It was way over engineered with snipping, chatting, extended bidding. Most Collectors want one simple cheap auction site. It would have probably cost a fortune to add all those features. And Probstein was too cheap to even hire a 3rd party to properly shyll bid.…
https://kennerstartinglineup.blogspot.com/
I think you are fine. it was NOT a hack, the information was simply there for anyone to simply read. Virtually every browser has an inspect (right mouse click) and view source option (CRTL +U). As long as you did not bid you should be fine as your info was never on any of the pages.
Any here who did make a bid IMHO need to immediately place a freeze at all Credit Bureaus. I've been doing that for 10 years. I only un-thaw right before i walk into Auto Dealership as an example. Plenty of info on how to easily place your freeze via duckduckgo, google or chatgpt
All should be very wary to provide info to any new platform. Wait until something at minimum is established for over 1 year. Also even after a year do your research, those who do would never provide a site like whatnot their personal information.
Lastly folks be concerned more with your Personal PI and PII info! Hold on to it very tightly. I for one wont even give my Dr's my SSN as most have systems that can easily be raided via office theft.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Criminals seem to always thrive in this hobby.
The data issue should be an immediate class action lawsuit for those who gave their information. No doubt, they were promised that it would be secure, and it sounds like due to complete incompetence, those people's data was wide open for anyone to grab.
If he makes it back to eBay -- I couldn't bid on anything of his because there's probably some fake shill account(s) bidding things higher. I've won several of his auctions on eBay -- now I'm wondering how much I overpaid over the years...
I don't understand why people continue to do business with bad actors.
I guess stuff Trump's all
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I am quite interested as to how Rick is going to spin this. You know it is going to be spun, and hard
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Over 99%
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Yes but he best be careful as Im sure it can be proved Federal Laws have been violated.
My guess is a lcompetant attorney would tell him to shut the f up and concentrate on insuring all refunds are granted ASAP. Based on what I've seen, he's neither smart nor honest enough to do either.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Stuff always wins...
And humans have very short attention spans - especially these days.
Not many really care in the long run as long as it is not affecting them personally money-wise. This will be all pretty much forgotten in a few weeks/months as every other hobby debacle is.
I would spin it that this is "test database" which was used for validating the platform and these were not live bets and if they were that these bids were not supposed to be associated.
Searched the "big hobby guns" on YouTube for any news confirming this article and the only source I found was "Dan the Card Man" on this story..... I am sure Geoff Wilson is feverishly filming an episode getting to the bottom of his former idol's fall from grace. (humor) Who knows... I never know what is real or bogus anymore. If nothing about this skirmish transpired despite the rumors swirling I wouldn't be remotely surprised.