eBay's Criminal Stalking Campaign Against a Journalist Was Run by Ex-Cops. They Nearly Got Away With It.

Summary

---

Podcast Summary

There Are No Girls on the Internet (iHeartPodcasts)

Episode: eBay's Criminal Stalking Campaign Against a Journalist Was Run by Ex-Cops. They Nearly Got Away With It.
Date: May 19, 2026
Host: Bridget Todd
Guest: Mike (co-host/contributor)

---

Episode Overview

Bridget Todd and guest Mike delve into the shocking, cinematic true story of eBay’s 2019 criminal harassment and stalking campaign against Ina and David Steiner, the journalists behind the niche but influential newsletter ECommerceBytes. The episode asks why a Fortune 500 tech company would unleash a “goon squad” of ex-cops and alleged former intelligence operatives on ordinary citizens, exploring power, paranoia, and the disturbing rise of private personal armies in the tech world.

---

Main Discussion Points & Key Insights

1. Who Are the Steiners? (02:44–06:57)

• The Steiners, Ina and David, ran ECommerceBytes (formerly AuctionBytes), a longstanding newsletter and trade publication focused on eBay and e-commerce issues.
• They launched their venture in the late 1990s, becoming trusted voices for eBay users and small sellers.

Bridget Todd:
"They make it work because they've built something together as pioneers of the early Internet… They launched a newsletter to help people buy and sell things on eBay. If you weren't around in 1999... the idea that someone would be making money or starting a business on the Internet was still very novel." (04:14)

Mike:
"Not many of them persisted 20 years later to become trusted brands that are continuing to thrive. So I totally agree, I think that's really impressive they were able to do that." (08:47)

2. The Spark: Public, Critical Yet Factual Journalism (06:57–10:09)

• Ina's coverage was not an anti-eBay crusade; she reported factually, highlighting issues relevant to small sellers, such as policy changes and executive compensation.
• eBay executives bristled at even factual critical coverage.

Bridget Todd:
"eBay did not like it. So as early as 2018… CEO Devin Wenig was complaining about ECommerceBytes to his communications team. His subordinates were promising to, 'clap back at Ina and f with her.'" (11:01)

3. An Atmosphere of Paranoia and Vengeance (13:15–16:21)

• eBay was under pressure from activist investors demanding internal changes during a period of declining performance.
• eBay CEO Devin Wenig’s compensation as a multiple of the median employee’s salary became a target in the Steiners’ reporting—though the information was public.

Key Quotes:

• Mike: "That pay disparity of him making 152 times more than the average worker… is actually smaller than the national average. According to the AFL-CIO… the average CEO to worker pay ratio was 285 to 1." (14:32)
• Bridget Todd: "When Ina published it… it was exactly the kind of story she had been writing for, like, 20 years… But Wenig’s chief communications officer… added, 'We are going to crush this lady.' A month later, Wenig texted back, 'take her down.'" (15:22–15:32)

4. Operation 'White Knight': The Harassment Campaign (25:57–28:38)

• eBay’s “head of safety and security,” James Baugh, a man with claims of CIA/FBI ties, was tasked with neutralizing the Steiners.
• Their strategy (codenamed “White Knight”) was to harass the Steiners anonymously, then “swoop in” as eBay security to gain their trust and unmask an anonymous critic (“Fidomaster”) on their website.

Bridget Todd:
"So Ball’s team would harass the Steiners anonymously… Then in their official capacity, eBay security would swoop in and offer to investigate the harassment… manufacture the threat, swoop in as the savior, and then extract the information that they want." (27:43)

5. Escalating Tactics: From Absurd to Sinister (29:22–35:03)

• The Steiners experienced:
  • Graffiti (“Fidomaster” spraypainted on their fence) (29:22–29:59)
  • Being bombarded with thousands of unwanted, humiliating newsletter subscriptions (Sin City Fetish Night, Satanic Temple, IBS groups, etc.)
  • Vulgar and threatening DMs
  • Disturbing packages: a book titled How to Grieve the Loss of a Spouse, funeral wreath, preserved fetal pig, boxes of live spiders and cockroaches, and pornographic magazines sent to neighbors.
  • Their address posted online, with fake ads inviting strangers for yard sales or sex parties.
• These actions were purposely designed to humiliate, frighten, and destabilize the couple.

Bridget Todd:
"This is where things get really diabolical… they get a book called how to Grieve the Loss of a Spouse… They also get a funeral wreath delivered to their door. They get things like boxes of live spiders, boxes of live cockroaches. Then also pornographic magazines… delivered to their neighbors houses to humiliate him." (32:25–33:23)

6. Physical Surveillance and Paranoia (35:05–38:05)

• Baugh and eBay security staff—sometimes young women called “Jim’s Angels”—traveled to Massachusetts to tail the Steiners, attempted to install a GPS tracker, and generally escalated surveillance.
• The attackers’ actions were both highly expensive and seemingly irrational—it was personal, not strategic.

Mike:
"The explanation is that it's all about the psychological needs of the guy who happens to be in charge… nothing to do with the well being of the company or improving the company's bottom line, because that's got to be expensive." (36:29)

7. Downfall: How the Plot Unraveled (42:11–43:00)

• David Steiner noticed the surveillance van, got its plate, and called the police.
• Police traced the van to an eBay intelligence analyst, unraveling the entire ring.

Bridget Todd:
"That’s really the detail that is the linchpin of them figuring out what was going on." (42:51)

8. Inside the “Goon Squad” (44:10–47:49)

• Baugh’s team was not hardened ex-military men, but often young women, dubbed “Jim’s Angels.” Testimony described a coercive, toxic workplace of sleep deprivation, sexual harassment, and exposure to disturbing tasks, breaking down employees’ resistance.
• The culture made young employees complicit in the harassment.

Bridget Todd:
"The women who carried out some of these actions either went to jail or house arrest or probation, the men who gave the orders walked away with tens of millions of dollars." (47:53)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

Mike:
"It's like Obama ordering Seal Team six to take out Osama bin Laden. Yes, except they're talking about a woman who writes a blog in Natick." (15:22)

Bridget Todd:
"You have no idea what the thing could be that gets you on the sh*t list of these incredibly wealthy, incredibly powerful… people… Just reporting publicly available information about compensation at eBay… they were going to then be the targets of this very long, very intense harassment campaign that was illegal." (20:00)

Bridget Todd:
"We're in the time of personal armies now." (18:45)

Bridget Todd:
"Imagine your pettiest, most obnoxious boss you've ever had. What if that boss had at his disposal on retainer a hired goon who would 'do whatever it takes'?" (22:25)

Mike:
"Maybe they should take a good hard look at the goon department. What's the goon budget?" (37:51)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:08–06:57] — Setting the stage: The Steiners and their newsletter’s purpose.
• [11:34–16:21] — eBay executive communications reveal plans for vengeance.
• [25:57–28:38] — “White Knight” strategy and the hunt for the anonymous commenter.
• [29:22–35:03] — The harassment campaign escalates: graffiti, spam subscriptions, threatening packages.
• [35:05–38:05] — Physical surveillance and in-person intimidation.
• [42:11–43:00] — The plan unravels; the Steiners catch their stalkers.
• [44:10–47:49] — Inside “Jim’s Angels” and coercive workplace culture.

---

Tone and Language

• Cinematic, incredulous, sometimes darkly comic:
  "It reads like the story. It's so cinematic. If I didn't know it really happened, I would think it was fictional because it reads like something from a movie." (03:44)
• Critical and empathetic:
  The hosts repeatedly stress how surreal and terrifying the reality was for the Steiners—ordinary people being targeted by tech execs.

---

Closing & What’s Next

• The story continues in a following episode, focusing on fallout, who actually faced punishment (hint: not the executives), and the ties to AI and the normalization of personal security armies among wealthy elites.
• Bridget teases revelations about the main perpetrators moving on to other high-tech security/AI roles and the broader, rising danger of corporate retaliation against critics.

---

Takeaways

• eBay’s campaign was not just a tale of tech hubris, but a stark warning about unchecked corporate power, the increasing use of private “personal armies” by executives, and the dangers faced by everyday people reporting factually on those in power.
• The story is a potent example of how marginalized and small independent voices are not only essential, but often most at risk for retaliation.

---

"So much of this seems like built on personal hostilities, some paranoia, you know, just a real like, like taking out whatever feelings you might have or anxieties you might have on the job on these people who really didn't deserve it…”
— Bridget Todd (21:27)

---

For More

• Follow Bridget Todd for updates and transcripts at tangodi.com
• The story of eBay’s campaign continues in the next episode.

---

Transcript

[Podcast Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human

[Grainger Advertiser]

if you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H Vac and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock so your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

T Mobile has the best plan on the Best network Just ask Kevin Bacon

[T-Mobile Narrator]

Today, business happens virtually everywhere. That's why you need Supermobile from T Mobile, the best plan on the best network, letting you run your business from your phone like never before. In moments of high demand, T Mobile's network adapts to put your business connection first.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Discover [e-mail] best business plan based on

[Advertisement Legal Disclaimer]

combination of advantage, network performance, coverage layers and security features. Best Network based on analysis by Oogle of Speed Test Intelligence Data 1H 2025 Oogler Trademarks used under license and reprinted with permission.

[DirecTV Advertiser]

This one's for all my TV lovers. My entertainment from DirecTV gets you 60 channels and Disney, Hulu and HBO Max all in one pack. But here's the with so much great TV in my entertainment, you're gonna want to talk about everything you've been watching. Just remember that your friends might not be as well watched as you. Don't be a spoiler and encourage them to get my Entertainment for just $34.99 a month. Go to directtv.com genrepacks and sign up today. New customers only. Service renews monthly unless canceled Card required. Conditions applied to Apps HBO Max Basic with apps begins after DirecTV five day trial. Learn [e-mail] restrictions apply.

[Home Depot Advertiser]

Your summer starts now with Memorial Day deals at the Home Depot. It's time to fire up summer cookouts with the next Grill 4 burner gas grill on special. Buy for only $199 and entertain all season with the Hampton bay West Grove 7 piece outdoor dining set for only $499. This Memorial Day, get low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot while supplies Last price invalid May 14 through May 27 US only exclusion supplies. See homedepot.com Pricematch for details.

[Bridget Todd]

There are no Girls on the Internet. It's a production of iHeartRadio and unbossed creative. I'm Bridget Todd and this is There are no girls on the Internet. So people will sometimes ask me like, what is the wildest tech story that you've ever talked about on the podcast. And without fail, it is the ebay harassment story, because I think it shows the lengths to which some tech leaders will go, not just to make money or have their company succeed or have their company make money, or to have them make money personally, but how far they will go to enact personal vengeance. And I think it makes clear that an increasing amount of the scaffolding that our tech landscape is built on is actually built up around things like vengeance and personal animosities. So, Mike, come along with me on the ebay harassment story before we get started. Is this a story that you remember?

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

This is a story that I very vaguely remember, like, seeing a headline about it or something. But I had no idea how wild of a story it was until looking over these notes that you put together. I don't understand how this was not like a much bigger story with, like, a fictionalized movie documentary about it.

[Bridget Todd]

Well, it does have a documentary, but.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Oh, it does.

[Bridget Todd]

It reads like the. Like the story. It's so cinematic. If I didn't know it really happened, I would think it was fictional because it reads like something from a movie. So let's get into it. Our story starts with a couple in Natick, Massachusetts, which is a kind of a quiet, sleepy suburb of Boston.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

I know Natick well. I. When I went to college at Northeastern, it was just, you know, out the commuter rail, a couple of stops.

[Bridget Todd]

So. Ina and David Steiner have lived in Natick for decades. They've been married for 30 years. They work from home together, which I guess, depending on the vibe of your relationship and how your home is built, could either be the dream or a nightmare. But for them, for the Steiners, they make it work because they've built something together as pioneers of the early Internet, starting way back when in 1999, which this is still very much the early days of the Internet, but especially for folks trying to build a real business online. They launched a newsletter to help people buy and sell things on ebay if you weren't around in 1999. The idea that somebody would be making money or starting a business on the Internet in 1999 was still very novel, right?

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Oh, definitely. E commerce was, like, not really a thing. The Internet was still so new. You know, we were. We were all figuring out what it was even supposed to be. And so there were. I think there were a lot of people like this who, you know, just started a newsletter or a website or something because it was related to something that they were interested in. And there just wasn't anybody else doing it, so they just started it. I think that was like a pretty common thing back in those days of the early Internet.

[Bridget Todd]

That's exactly what the Steiners did. So their newsletter originally was called Auction Bytes, but eventually it became E Commerce Bites. And over the years, they're able to grow this into a real trade publication. It becomes kind of a trusted source for people who either build businesses selling things on ebay or have a passion for buying things on ebay. If you are a buyer or a seller or somebody who uses ebay in a real way, this is like a trade publication for you to understand ebay policies. What's going on with ebay? Ina is responsible for all of the reporting and David handles the business side. They cover marketplace news, policy changes, seller complaints, platform decisions, for an audience of people whose actual livelihoods depend on knowing the ins and outs of how ebay works. So this is one of those stories where if I just stopped here, we just have a sweet story of a husband and wife duo working from home, running a business together in a charming New England town.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, it's a nice story, except for

[Bridget Todd]

in the summer of 2019, one of the most powerful tech companies in the world decided that Ina Steiner needed to be, and I'm quoting directly from an executive text message here, quote, burned down.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Burned down. That is some extreme language from a publicly traded company about an individual person.

[Bridget Todd]

Yes, get ready for some extreme language. Put in text message and emails all over the story. Because what happened next is just one of the most unhinged, also just disproportionate and genuinely terrifying corporate scandals I have ever encountered. And I'm saying that as somebody who covers the dregs of technology for a living every week.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Wow. All right, buckle up. I guess. So where should we start? Who are these people?

[Bridget Todd]

So the Steiners are just normal people? I cannot stress that enough. The Steiners are not journalists at the New York Times. Right. They don't have a team of lawyers. They don't really have institutional backing. They just started their newsletter because they were ebay fans and early adopters of ebay. They're folks who just genuinely loved the platform of ebay and wanted to help other sellers navigate it effectively. So over time, E Commerce Bites becomes one of the go to resources for folks who sell stuff for a living on ebay. Small business owners, vintage resellers, collectors, and everyday folks trying to make ends meet. Ina is actually a member of the online News Association MeToo and another organization for writers called Investigative Reporters and editors. She even wrote a book about all of this called turn ebay data into dollars, published by McGraw Hill in 2006. She really built herself up into this trusted voice on e commerce. She's been quoted in the new york times, fortune, the wall street journal. And I feel like even that on its own is an impressive and interesting story, like, of its own, right?

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

It is, yeah. You know, I mentioned earlier that a lot of people were doing similar stuff, like back in the early days of the Internet, starting newsletters or, you know, web pages about things they were interested in because it was so new, that stuff didn't exist. And it's true that a lot of people did that, but not many of them persisted 20 years later to become trusted brands that are continuing to thrive. So I totally agree. I think that's really impressive they were able to do that. I took a look at their website before this recording just to see what it was like, and it's still active. They're publishing stories every couple days. The. The design of their website is very charmingly, like, still early world wide web a little bit. But, you know, the content looks very solid, and it's just cool to see something that really does have the feel of being a relic from that earlier time when people could just make their own thing, you know, like today would be a substack, which would be totally fine. But there is something cool about it still being this, having that same DIY early Internet, early ebay feel. And to see it really succeeding today, it's cool.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah, I like that. It still feels very Web 2.0.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, exactly.

[Bridget Todd]

So you might think from where this story is going, that her coverage of ebay was like some kind of an anti ebay crusade. Because that would make more sense. Not just. Not to say that I would think that was okay, like an okay thing to do, but you might be thinking, oh, she's someone who is, like, very anti ebay, and that's why ebay hated her so much. Not so. She covered ebay the way any trade publication would cover any company, factually, critically, been warranted, and really trying to ground it in the needs of her audience, who were ebay sellers. So if ebay raised their fees, she reported about it. If ebay changed a policy, that might hurt small sellers, she reported on that, too. If ebay executives were getting massive pay packages while the platform struggled, well, she reported on that too, and that is sort of what started this whole thing. But ina is by any reasonable definition, just a journalist covering a beat doing what journalists Are meant to do. And ebay did not like it. So as early as 2018, a full year before things got truly criminal, eBay's then CEO Devin Wenig, was complaining about e commerce bites to his communications team. And we know all of this because it's in court documents. His subordinates were promising to, quote, clap back at ina and f with her.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Just putting it right into writing.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah, I was going to say this is one of those stories where someone. So many things that should not be in writing are in writing. And it's probably one of the reasons why this story has captivated me so much, because you don't really need to guess when you put things in writing. So this guy, the eBay's then CEO, Devin Wenig, he is a central character to everything. He was kind of a big deal then. He ran eBay from 2015 to 2019. During his tenure at ebay, he was named one of America's Most 100 Innovative Leaders by Forbes, one of technology's highest rated CEOs by Glassdoor, Bay Area's favorite CEO by the San francisco chronicle. And his bio kind of reads like a greatest hit of silicon valley prestige. So he was a big deal. He was also, according to years of court documents and testimony, the person who set in motion what a federal prosecutor would eventually call, quote, absolutely horrific criminal conduct, Even though he was this big tech ebay bigwig. By the spring of 2019, eBay had hit kind of a rough patch. In January 2019, an activist hedge fund called elliot management bought a significant stake in ebay and sent a public letter to the board of directors. That letter said that ebay had, quote, underperformed both its peers and the market for a prolonged period of time and called for major changes within the company, which many inside ebay interpreted as a threat to the then CEO wenig's job.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Okay, I could see how that would create some pressure then for wennegg.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah, it sounds like he's on the chopping block. He's feeling that pressure because elliot management was essentially staging a corporate raid. And Devin wenig, the forbes lauded glassdoor celebrated CEO, now kind of has a target on his back from his own investors. So this is the atmosphere, an atmosphere of pressure and paranoia. When ina steiner publishes a story on her newsletter about how eBay CEO Devin Wenig, his compensation was 152 times that of a typical ebay employee's salary.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

I was, like, really shocked when I read that number. Just for context, I was curious, is that typical for a CEO? And it turns out that that pay disparity of him making 152 times more than the average worker, his own company, that's actually smaller than the national average for companies, the S&P 500, because apparently they're all required to disclose that information. So it's just like public information how much everybody makes. And According to the AFL CIO's Executive Paywatch Tracker 2024, the average CEO to worker pay ratio was 285 to 1.

[Bridget Todd]

Wow.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Almost twice winnings, which is just mind boggling.

[Bridget Todd]

You know, I'm glad that you phrased it that way, because this was public information. And so when Ina published it, it wasn't like she got this information through like deep dive or investigative journalist. It's public, as you said. And it was exactly the kind of story that Ina had been writing for like 20 years about eBay and the people who run the platform. But Weddig's chief communications officer, a man named Steve Weimer, sent his boss Ina's article about his salary being so high. And alongside it he added, quote, we are going to crush this lady. A month later, Wenig texted back, quote, take her down.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

It's like Obama ordering Seal Team six to take out Osama bin Laden. Yes, except they're talking about a woman who writes a blog in Natick.

[Bridget Todd]

Exactly. So now you've got the CEO putting in writing take her down. In direct response to his comms chief saying, we're going to crush this lady. Weiner takes that take it down text as a kind of mandate and escalates it directly to the head of ebay security division, a man named James Baugh. He's going to come up a ton more on this episode. So when Weimer, the comms chief, gets to James Baugh, the language they use to talk about this situation gets even uglier. He calls Ina a quote, biased troll who needs to get all caps burned down. He says he wants to see ashes. He tells BA eBay's head of security to, quote, do whatever it takes.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Why do they keep talking about burning her? It's like she's a witch or something.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah, it's pretty bad. Weimer also sends Baugh a separate message, quote, if we are ever going to take her down, now is the time again. All of this because she shared compensation data that was already public information.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, seems pretty disproportionate and probably not even legal. I don't know. I guess we're going to get into that. So what can you tell us about James Ball?

[Bridget Todd]

So to understand this Story. You really have to understand who this guy is and what he's about. Ball was eBay's senior director of safety and Security before that, he worked at Microsoft. Before that, and this came out during the sentencing. Baugh and his attorneys claimed that he had worked with the CIA's National Clandestine Service. And he claimed in letters to the court that even after he went into the private sector, that he continued doing covert work for the FBI and the CIA. I should say I've seen a little bit of fuzziness around this, whether or not he actually did do work for the CIA or the FBI. But that, that's what he says.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

I feel like people who do covert work for the CIA don't typically talk about it like this, but what the hell do I know?

[Bridget Todd]

I mean, have you done covert work for the CIA?

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

No, I haven't. Wink, wink.

[Bridget Todd]

Or have I? Honestly, one of the reasons why I wanted to talk about this story now is because you probably remember a few weeks ago we did a story on the News Roundup about Madison Square Gardens head of security, based on some really deep reporting from Wired about how these big private companies are hiring people, people who formerly either worked with or had some ties to the government as CIA or FBI. And then they get hired on to be the head of security for these like big private companies and more or less become personal mercenaries for these private companies where the guys who run the companies want to punish or spy on their perceived personal enemies. And then these heads of securities with these potential, like CIA or FBI or government ties then do that on behalf of these executives. As they put it in that Wired article about Madison Square Garden, we're in the time of personal armies now.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

So scary. There's some humor to the absurdity of this giant corporation going after these. To people, it's like a little mom and pop outlet. It is absurd and it's kind of funny that regard. But like, this idea about the rise of personal private armies surveilling and punishing the perceived enemies of the rich is like really scary stuff.

[Bridget Todd]

I mean, it's exactly what President Trump is doing. The Wired article makes very clear that this is not an isolated thing, that this is becoming more and more the norm. So us regular folks who do not have, you know, personal goons on retainer or whatever should expect that this is going to become more and more commonplace. And you have no idea what the thing could be that gets you on the shit list of these incredibly wealthy, incredibly powerful, incredibly well connected people that have essentially their own personal goon who can do whatever. Right. I'm sure the Steiners didn't think by just reporting publicly available information about compensation at ebay that they were going to then be the targets of this very long, very intense harassment campaign that was illegal. Right. Like they. In the Madison Square. We'll get into it soon. But in the Madison Square Garden article, ordinary people do small things that you would never expect would wind you on the enemy's list of somebody rich and powerful. But that is what exactly what is happening.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, that's such a good point. You know, the. But in both that Madison Square Garden story and also this one, it doesn't seem like these people became targeted because they had violated some sort of actual rule that the institution had. It wasn't about like some kind of institutional transgression or crime or something. It was just like the, the personal feelings of some powerful executive who didn't like the look of them and you know, was just trying to deal with whatever psychological stuff was going on inside their executive head. Like it sounds like Stenig here was really facing a lot of pressure about this potential takeover and going after E Commerce bites. It almost seems more like an outlet for rage than a strategic communications move.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So much of this seems like built on personal hostilities, some paranoia, you know, just a real like, like taking out whatever feelings you might have or anxieties you might have on the job on these people who really didn't deserve it and really didn't do anything wrong.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

We probably all had the experience of working with like a coworker or acquaintance or someone who maybe doesn't have the best emotional management and takes out their frustration and pettiness on other people around them. And that's pretty annoying when it happens, but it's probably like especially annoying and even dangerous when that person makes 150 to 300 times more than you. Right. And just has like that many more resources to put towards prosecuting whatever petty grievance they've decided they, they want to take to the bank.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah. Imagine your pettiest, most obnoxious boss you've ever had. What if that boss had at his disposal on retainer a hired goon who would quote, do whatever it takes?

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, that would not be cool.

[Bridget Todd]

Spa, that head of security for ebay, according to his own lawyers, said that he felt relentless pressure From Wenig, the CEO of eBay, and other executives to deal with the Steiner problem and that he took that pressure very seriously in the way that a guy who has a background in covert Intelligence operations takes pressure seriously. So he gathered his team and that team started to plan. Let's take a quick break.

[Mazda Advertiser]

Introducing the all new Mazda CX5 featuring more connection hey Google, where's the nearest Pilates class Safety that has your back? More discovery on the scenic routes, more passion in the details and more control in changing weather. The all new Mazda CX5 more to move every side of you. See it in five films at mazdausa.com

[PayPal Advertiser]

fivesides Google is a trademark of Google LLC. Sequences shortened and simulated Every business has an ambition. PayPal open is the platform designed to help you grow into yours with access to business loans so you can expand and hundreds of millions of PayPal customers worldwide. Your customers can pay all the ways they want today with PayPal, Venmo, pay later and all major cards so you can focus on the future when you need a partner trusted by millions. There's one platform for all business PayPal open grow today at paypalopen.com loans subject to approval in available locations AT T

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Mobile we could explain Super Mobile ourselves, but would you rather hear it from Kevin Bacon?

[T-Mobile Narrator]

Today, business happens virtually everywhere. That's why you need Supermobile from T Mobile. The Best Plan on the Best network A first of its kind plan that lets you run your business from your phone like never before. In moments of high demand. T Mobile's network intelligently adapts to help give your business the connection it needs with built in security to keep your business your business all backed by America's largest mobile to satellite network.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Get intelligent performance, enhanced security and seamless coverage with Super Mobile from T Mobile. The best Business Plan on the Best network discover [e-mail] best business plan based

[Advertisement Legal Disclaimer]

on combination of advanced network performance, coverage layers and security features. Best Network based on analysis by Oclev Speed test intelligence data 1H 2025 Trademarks used under license and root printed with permission T Satellite available with capable device in most outdoor areas where you can see the sky.

[The Hartford Advertiser]

The next 30 seconds could save you hundreds on your car insurance. At the Hartford we're passionate about your protection. If you're 50 or over. AARP auto insurance from the Hartford gives you benefits that really matter and you could save $597 when you switch.

[Mazda Advertiser]

How's that?

[The Hartford Advertiser]

For a little peace of mind, visit trusthartford.com today the Hartford your protection is our passion. The Hartford Insurance Group Inc. Pays royalty fees to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. AARP and its affiliates are not insurers. Savings vary.

[Bridget Todd]

And we're back. One thing I haven't really gotten into yet is that the harassment of the Steiners was not just about punishing Ina for what she had written. There was a second target, an anonymous one, because for months, there was a commenter on the E Commerce Bites website that had been driving these ebay executives absolutely crazy. This person posted under the handle fidomaster and then later changed it to Unsuck ebay, which I love.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Again, very early Internet vibes.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah. And this person would post critical commentary about ebay's layoffs, their executive pay, its management structure, and shakeups all over the Steiner's website and across Twitter. Ebay could not identify this poster. They were unable to get Twitter to kill the account, probably because this account was not breaking any rules by just commenting about eBay. EBay's own lawyers told them that they did not have a legal case against this commenter and that basically there was nothing that they could do within the law. I mean, because luckily, these are not people who feel they need to operate within the law. So Jim Baugh, ebay's senior director of safety and security, had a different idea. What if they could get the Steiners to out this anonymous commenter? So they put a plan in motion. This plan actually had a code name. They called it the white knight strategy. And here's how it worked. So Ball's team would harass the Steiners anonymously to scare them and destabilize them and make them feel very unsafe in their own homes. They would do this in their unofficial capacity, like off the books, on the hush. Then in their official capacity, ebay security would swoop in and offer to investigate the harassment. So they would kind of come to the rescue as a white knight, hence the name, earn this diner's trust, and then use that trust to get the Steiners to cooperate in unmasking this commenter, Fidomaster. It is a kind of diabolical plan, I really have to say. So their plan is to manufacture the threat, swoop in as the savior, and then extract the information that they want. That kind of dynamic, to me, really resembles the kind of tactic that you often see associated with intelligence operations, where you're lying, misleading, manufacturing fake threats, and then being like, oh, well, now you have to work with us because there's this threat that we actually manufactured.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, coercive, dishonest. Doesn't really sound super legal. Yikes. But I guess what, Wilds have hired goons, right? Goons gonna goon.

[Bridget Todd]

Goons got a goon. The U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case called the White Knight strategy, specifically targeting an anonymous source through the journalist who was protecting them, quote, abhorrent to First Amendment values. And I absolutely agree.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, right. That makes it even worse that they were doing all of this not just to get the Steiners, but to uncover their anonymous journalistic source. So what else was part of this White Knight campaign? How. How did it all go down?

[Bridget Todd]

So it started in June 2019. David Steiner, the husband of this husband wife ebay newsletter, goes outside and he finds a word spray painted in black across his brand new white fence. Fidomaster.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Oh man, it's such a dramatic visual. And then the reveal of the word is like again, just like a little absurd.

[Bridget Todd]

The whole thing is absurd. And if you ran a newsletter and you came outside of your house and somebody had spray painted the name of a commenter on that newsletter on your fence, I would honestly just be so confused.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, like what?

[Bridget Todd]

Like, what is going on? What are they trying to tell me? So that whole thing was ebay? Specifically, it was a senior ebay security manager named Brian Gilbert. He drove to Natick and defaced the Steiner's property. Afterward, B texted Weimer that his team had given the Steiners, quote, a tap on the shoulder. Weimer seemed to express approval and he did not ask questions. So I guess this is meant to be sort of the first tap of the harassment campaign. But then the digital component of it begins in earnest because the Steiners start getting bombarded with unwanted newsletter subscriptions. Things like subscriptions to the Sin City Fetish Night or the Satanic Temple or the Communist Party of the United States or the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patient Support Group. This was all coordinated. Someone at ebay was sitting at a computer signing Ina and David Steiner up for newsletters specifically designed to disturb and humiliate them.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

This feels like such a low effort, low tech method of harassment. Like, I'm sure it was annoying and bad to endure, but I guess I would expect a crack team of ex intelligence officers to have some, like, more sophisticated tricks than signing people up for unwanted newsletters.

[Bridget Todd]

Their tactics do escalate, but the early tactics do sort of seem a little bit, what's the word I'm looking for?

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

A little bit low effort.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah, the early tactics do seem a little bit low effort to me. But then come some DMs on Twitter, like threatening and explicit DMs. Things like shut up or else. The DMs were vulgar enough that when the Steiners were on 60 Minutes, they were talking about the harassment. And they said that Most of the DMs they were getting could not be shown on television. So as if that's not bad enough, then it gets physical. The Steiners get a voicemail from somebody saying that they could not fulfill an order for a wet specimen. David calls back and he's like, what is a wet specimen? A wet specimen, it turns out, is a preserved dead animal in formaldehyde. So this order was for a fetal pig.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Like one of the fetal pigs that you would dissect in high school biology class, I think.

[Bridget Todd]

So I think ebay was trying to send this couple a dead beetle pig to scare them because of their ebay newsletter. This is where things get really diabolical because David Steiner gets sent in the mail a book called how to Grieve the Loss of a Spouse.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Oh, yikes. That is a big escalation.

[Bridget Todd]

So they told 60 Minutes that they pretty understandably interpreted this as a death threat. And this sort of seems to start a death theme. They also get a funeral wreath delivered to their door. They get things like boxes of live spiders, boxes of live cockroaches. Then also pornographic magazines that are addressed to David but delivered to their neighbors houses specifically to humiliate him in front of people that he knew.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Oh, okay. Yeah. So this is really escalating now, from unwanted newsletter subscriptions to implicit death threats, boxes of live spiders, and borderline sexual harassment. I don't know if that counts as sexual harassment or not, but, like, sexual Something really escalating.

[Bridget Todd]

Yeah, it really escalates from here. Ina described opening a package to 60 Minutes. She opens the package, and she said that it looked like it was full of hair and flesh. And this happened while a police officer who had come to take a report was standing right there. When she opened this package, she said that her immediate thought, even before she knew who was behind it or what was going on, was, what are they going to do next? So as this was all beginning, the Steiners start setting up security cameras all over their home. Ring cameras and outdoor cameras. The digital component of the harassment really kind of ramps up from here. Their home address gets posted online with fake announcements for things like yard sales and sex parties, basically inviting strangers to show up at their house. What strikes me about this is how ebay was kind of using the Steiner's own community against them. You know, this was harassment that was meant to humiliate them along often sexual lines in front of their neighbors and destabilize whatever trust or, like, perception that their neighbors might have had of them and also destabilize whatever sense of privacy that they might have. Like, this stuff happening at your house makes you feel like you have no safe space and no private life and no way out.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, that would be terrifying.

[Bridget Todd]

Well, as if that's not bad enough, then comes the physical surveillance. So BA that head of ebay security personally flew from California to Boston with two other eBay employees. They rent a van and they registered for a fake software development conference as a cover story. They drive to Natick and they follow the Steiners around their neighborhood. And again, this also takes me back to the Madison square Garden wired piece. The level of surveillance that Madison square Garden security team was expected to do on just regular people who attended events at the Garden is absurd to me. One of the anecdotes in the piece is that a former Knicks player went to a game at the Garden, and then Madison square garden security was meant to tail him and follow him even as he traveled hundreds of miles from Madison square Garden. Which, again, I don't know. Like, maybe I'm naive or I don't know how business works, but I simply cannot conceive of a world where this is a reasonable way to run a business. I simply do not understand. Like, what is it getting them to send a team of goons cross country to do physical surveillance and harassment of one couple running a newsletter? I simply cannot wrap my head around that.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

For me, I think it's one of those things where the explanation is that it's all about the psychological needs of the guy who happens to be in charge. Really nothing to do with the well being of the company or improving the company's bottom line, because that's got to be expensive.

[Bridget Todd]

Sending a whole team of goons across country renting surveillance vans, coming up with fake cover stories. That is a lot of work for this one couple for just running a newsletter.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, you got to pay for the travel for the goons. You got to feed them, you got to put them up in a hotel.

[Bridget Todd]

I like to imagine that the goons are very specific and exacting in their needs. They're like, the goons must stay in a hotel that looks like this. Here's our goon rider.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

You think they have a goon rider?

[Bridget Todd]

I mean, if you're a hired goon, I feel like you could make some. I mean, it depends how good of

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

a goon you are. If you're like a top goon, yeah, you can probably command all kinds of special conditions.

[Bridget Todd]

And I think this is why this story sticks with me, because it also really pierces the veil of this idea that people who run tech companies are very efficient and very good at like using resources and money and time and they know how to, you know, we should all be looking to them and listening to them about how our time and resources and money are spent. This does not seem like a very good use of resources or time to me.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Seriously, all these tech companies doing layoffs, maybe they should take a good hard look at the goon department.

[Bridget Todd]

What's the goon budget?

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, yeah. What kind of overhead you got running on goons?

[Bridget Todd]

More after a quick break.

[Mazda Advertiser]

Introducing the all new Mazda CX5 featuring more connection hey Google, where's the nearest Pilates class safety that has your back? More discovery on the scenic routes, more passion in the details and more control in changing weather. The all new Mazda CX5 more to move every side of you. See it in five films at mazdausa.com

[PayPal Advertiser]

fivesides Google is a trademark of Google LLC. Sequences shortened and simulated Every business has an ambition. PayPal open is the platform designed to help you grow into yours with access to business loans so you can expand and hundreds of millions of PayPal customers worldwide. Your customers can pay all the ways they want today with PayPal, Venmo, pay later and all major cards so you can focus on the future when you need a partner trusted by millions. There's one platform for all business PayPal open grow today at paypalopen.com loans subject to approval in available locations.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Whether you run a small office or a factory of 500 for businesses of all sizes, connection is everything. That's why T Mobile is reinventing business Internet with Super broadband. Powered by America's fastest 5G Internet and integrated with Starlink, Super Broadband is built from the ground up and the sky down, reaching every zip code in the US even in the most remote locations like this solar farm. Whether it's the boardroom or the emergency

[Bridget Todd]

room, all nurses to the nurses station.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

With Super Broadband, your critical data stays online even through disruptions. T Mobile now delivers Super Broadband a new era of business Internet. Visit superbroadband.com to learn more.

[Advertisement Legal Disclaimer]

Fastest 5G network based on analysis by Oculus Speed Test Intelligence data 2H 2025 speeds vary due to local network characteristics and management. Satellite requires hardware installation and clear view of the sky. With a 36 month commitment, the next

[The Hartford Advertiser]

30 seconds could save you hundreds on your car insurance. At the Hartford, we're passionate about your protection if you're 50 or over AARP. Auto insurance from the Hartford gives you benefits that really matter and you could save $597 when you switch.

[Mazda Advertiser]

How's that?

[The Hartford Advertiser]

For a little peace of mind? Visit trust Hartford.com today, the Hartford. Your protection. Protection is our passion. The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. Pays royalty fees to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. AARP and its affiliates are not insurers. Savings vary.

[Bridget Todd]

Let's get right back into it. So these goons, when they get to Natick, they try to break into the Steiner's garage to install a GPS location tracker on their vehicle. They're watching them in person. This is senior executives at a Fortune 500 company staking out a couple's home in suburban Massachusetts because that couple was writing about the company on their mom and pop newsletter.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Seems pretty weird when you say it like that.

[Bridget Todd]

Yes. At one point, in the middle of the night, a pizza gets delivered. Like, the ebay executives ordered pizzas to their house as part of this harassment campaign. And. And David Steiner said he genuinely thought it might be a hitman. Like, that is how that is. That is the level to which this had escalated.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

That must have been so scary for these two.

[Bridget Todd]

And at this point, they had no idea what was going on or why this was happening to them yet. Because again, ebay's plan was to just destabilize them and terrify them. And then ebay was going to swoop in and be like, oh, we can help.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

That's gotta be like a terrible form of harassment when you have no idea who is harassing you or why. And they're also sending death threats. Yeah, that would be terrifying.

[Bridget Todd]

So let's talk about how this plan started to fall apart. It really was because of David Steiner. Steiner notices that he is being followed. He sees this van. So he gets out and he takes a picture of the license plate and calls the cops. The cops run the plate, and they're able to trace those plates back to a rental car agency where a woman named Veronica Zay, an ebay intelligence analyst who was 25 years old at the time, had flown in from San Jose and signed for this vehicle. And the whole thing starts unraveling from there. That's really the detail that is the linchpin of them figuring out what was going on.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

I can only imagine how David Steiner felt when he learned that it was actually ebay employees who were behind all of this.

[Bridget Todd]

I feel like if I'm David Steiner in a million years, I would never. I'm probably thinking, did I cut somebody off in traffic? You know, of all the places my mind would go, I feel like ebay would be the last place I Mean, I'm thinking now, I mean, heaven forbid if I was at the center of this kind of harassment campaign, I, I guess I've made some enemies. Now that I'm speaking out loud, I guess I made. I guess, I guess I've made some enemies.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

We could just cross check against your enemies list, you know?

[Bridget Todd]

You know who it probably would be? The Hallow app or Mark Wahlberg or Chris Pratt. I got enemies, man.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

I could imagine that movie where like Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt are racing against each other to take you down first.

[Bridget Todd]

Tell them to come and get me. I'm ready.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Okay. So they were able to trace the van back to an analyst at ebay and that started unraveling this whole thing. What else was revealed? How did it all come out?

[Bridget Todd]

Let's talk about the people who actually carried out Operation White Knight. Because there are some details about this whole operation that I think are important and that are kind of central to understanding how this operation was meant to work. So you might think that somebody like B.A. that head of security at ebay, would, you know, potentially having these, like, CIA government ties would amass a group of, like, hardened operatives. That's probably what you're thinking, right?

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Yeah, I'm picturing some, like, hard looking guys, like, covered in tattoos, military experience, you know, grizzled look, stubble, smoking cigarettes. That's what I'm picturing in this movie. How accurate is that?

[Bridget Todd]

Not accurate at all. Because you're probably not picturing young women in their 20s, women like Veronica Zay, that ebay intelligence analyst. Those are the kinds of people that he amassed as his team. A team of mostly young women. So this guy who has this CIA background, tasked with running a covert harassment campaign, specifically recruited young female analysts to do this work, and he calls them Jim's Angels.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

I guess it's like a play on Charlie's Angels, only instead of helping people out, they are harassing a married couple.

[Bridget Todd]

Yes, pretty much. This is just me extrapolating. Like, I, I obviously don't know these guys, but I bet he loved the idea of amassing a group of young women and then giving them this nickname, Jim's Angels, that frames them as his, like, personal accessories. And then according to Veronica Zay's testimony at sentencing, breaking them down through coercive control. Because according to statements made during sentencing, some employees described an environment of sexual harassment, sleep deprivation, routine exposure to graphic and violent content. According to this testimony, this coercive control and harassment was key to, like, breaking these young women down and convincing them to do this kind of bidding. According to her testimony, Veronica zay, who was 25 years old when she was working as an analyst at ebay, was like, I don't know how I came to be using a prepaid card to avoid a paper trail while buying living insects and shipping them to this couple.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

I can see how in retrospect, as, like, you know, a digital analyst looking back on those activities, she would have questions about, like, you know, maybe I shouldn't have done that.

[Bridget Todd]

So she's the one who's renting the van, flying to Boston. At her sentencing, she described a workplace culture so toxic and so deliberately destabilizing that she struggled to explain how she wound up doing any of it.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

So I do believe her here that this guy probably was a, like, controlling creep who liked little mind games. But also, what a convenient thing for her to say at a sentencing hearing.

[Bridget Todd]

Very true. Very, very true. So you've got this guy, this head of security at ebay, using young women basically as instruments of a campaign to make a couple, including another woman, feel unsafe in her own home. Like the women in this story are either the target or the weapon.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

That's a good and sad observation, and

[Bridget Todd]

it brings me no joy to report this. But while the women who carried out some of these actions either went to jail or house arrest or probation, the men who gave the orders walked away with tens of millions of dollars.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Infuriating, truly.

[Bridget Todd]

So let's hold it there, because next week we're going to talk about what happened to some of those men. And I want to warn you, it's probably not what you might be thinking. You might be thinking jail or consequences. No, one of them is literally mixed up in AI as we speak.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Oh, man. Of course. I'm sure there is a huge market for private security, AI, surveillance, vengeance as a service.

[Bridget Todd]

There certainly is. Because one of these men, one who got 24 months in federal prison for his role in all of this, was actually hired by the man who runs Madison Square Garden, whose own head of security vouched for his, quote, extreme integrity and highest moral standards shortly before he went to prison for stalking a blogger with live cockroaches.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Oh, man. We're looping back around to Madison Square Garden.

[Bridget Todd]

We certainly are. Stay tuned. I will see you next week. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech or just want to say hi. You can reach [e-mail] youm can also find transcripts for today's [e-mail] There are no girls on the Internet was created by me Bridget Todd. It's a production of iHeartRadio and unbossed creative. Jonathan Strickland is our Executive producer, Tari Harrison is our producer and Sound Engineer Michael Amato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. If you want to help us grow, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Podcast Announcer]

At cvs, it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night, and we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and, yeah, healthy snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve your community because we believe. We believe where you get your medicine matters. So Visit [e-mail] or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location.

[Advertisement Legal Disclaimer]

If you're a QuickBooks customer looking to grow your business without the growing pains you need the Intuit ERP Upgrade to Intuit Enterprise Suite in a matter of hours. It's the AI native ERP from the makers of QuickBooks.

[Mike (Co-host/Guest)]

Learn [e-mail] ERP hey everyone, it's Kal Penn.

[Kal Penn]

I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with Podcast Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode, I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[American Family Insurance Advertiser]

Life's better with Drive My Way from American Family Insurance because we know it's more than just a car. It's your escape pod, your adventure mobile, your memory maker, and we help protect the dreams that drive you. Personalize what you pay for auto insurance and you can save between 10 and 35%. American Family Insurance Get a quote and find an [e-mail] Products, pricing and availability

[Advertisement Legal Disclaimer]

vary based on the way you purchase insurance and by state. Unsafe driving behaviors may increase your rate. American Family Mutual Insurance Company SI and its operating companies 6000American Parkway, Madison, Wisconsin

[Bridget Todd]

this is an iHeart podcast.

[Podcast Announcer]

Guaranteed human.