eBay to pay $3 million fine for ‘campaign of terror’ over harassment of couple: 'Got pig foetus, death threats'

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CBS News. The US Department of Justice on January 11 pronounced the verdict that eBay had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement after being charged criminally with two counts of stalking through interstate travel, two counts of stalking through electronic communications services, one count of witness tampering, and one count of obstruction of justice. A US couple, Ina and David Steiner, claimed that in August of 2019 they received strange gifts and threats.

These threats included items such as a book on surviving the death of a spouse, real spiders, cockroaches, a death wreath and a gory pig mask. Other threatening actions included sending public and private tweets and tracking them. Another aspect of the harassment included urging the public to have sex at the victims' houses through Craigslist advertisements.

US Attorney Joshua S. Levy who was presiding over the lawsuit stated, "eBay engaged in absolutely horrific, criminal conduct. The company's employees and contractors involved in this campaign put the victims through pure hell, in a petrifying campaign aimed at silencing their reporting and protecting the eBay brand." Joshua S.

Levy further added, to “ensure that eBay's senior leadership sets a tone that makes compliance with the law paramount, implements safeguards to prevent future criminal activity, and makes clear to every eBay employee that the idea of terrorizing innocent people and obstructing investigations will not be tolerated," reported CBS News. eBay will need to retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for three years under this agreement, as informed by officials. Former US Attorney Andrew Lelling termed it a "campaign of terror". Investigations into the case revealed that eBay's