AI program for reporting fraudulent stamps is biased in favor of big dealers

[golowenow]

In reporting fraudulent activity by stamp dealers who are selling counterfeit illegal stamps on ebay, I have found that the new AI program being used is ignoring taking action on sponsored sellers and large volume stamp dealers.

The AI takes action in closing sales down on many sellers, but when the same EXACT counterfeit is reported on sponsored sellers or other "big" stamp dealers the AI either reports it did not find anything fraudulent or takes absolutely no action at all! This bias that is programed into the system needs to be removed. Some of these dealers are very big now BECAUSE they have distributed thousands of counterfeits through ebay past and present for decades.

I am a leading expert on illegal stamps and have studied the problem for decades. I have worked with the management of the stamps categories in the past. Due to the lead manager leaving and nobody replacing him, this work was stopped and now the sale of illegal stamps is rampant and even worse on ebay.

I would like to find a way to get in direct contact with the AI division to help work out a solution to this problem. Before it was with the EMR program that I worked with. Now that ebay has enacted using AI to make decisions which of course uses image recognition and verifiable sources to make those decisions, this system can be upgraded to make the stamps categories a safe place for buyers to browse. It will never do so if the system is "rigged" to avoid sponsored sellers and other types of large volume dealers with thousands of feedbacks. Please contact me directly to enact correspondence with developers of the AI system being used for reporting counterfeit stamps and fraudulent activity.

[eburtonlab]

eBay is not here; this is a user forum. No one from eBay is likely to contact you just because you posted here.

Don't assume that the AI is the last word when reporting a listing; many listings are looked at by actual people, and just because the AI could not spot a policy violation does not mean someone else won't. The AI can be useful for spotting blatant violations and acting quickly on a large volume of reports that might not otherwise get attention as quickly.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

It is likely the bias is due to percentage of sales which have complaints of counterfeits by buyers.

It is likely the bot is not trained on counterfeit stamps in any way.

Yes, sellers with fewer sales are affected by buyer complaints to a greater extent.

It is unlikely that Ebay will ever train bots on how to detect counterfeits using anything other statistical methods - too much CPU required, too few stamps sold.

The AI techniques being used by many companies are not very intelligent and will continue to be simpleminded even when greater capabilities could be deployed. The intelligence would compete with profitable transactions for system resources. If it could become a significant problem the decision to close the category might be on the table as an alternative.

[kensgiftshop]

Since you also sell stamps, they might look at your reports as a way to get rid of some of your competition.

[golowenow]

Thank you for your comments. Indeed the AI has removed content on smaller sellers that were reported. It is only these certain sellers that it will not act. One I believe IS because the image recognition is not accurate due to the seller using red backgrounds. Also problems possibly due to Camera images versus scanning.

The problem with "sponsored" sellers is not new. It has persisted throughout the years long before AI. Ebay is protecting these sellers even though they sell hundreds of illegal stamps and I can tell you one specific seller I am targeting has made many thousands of dollars on them. This seller has not been affected specifically even though directly  reported to the fraud division by one of the head managers of the categories.

As for selling stamps, first off the illegal stamps are nothing like what I or the majority of sellers of stamps on eBay sell. If it were a case of eBay looking at me trying to "get rid of competition", then all reports would be ignored. Have heard that one many times. FYI, I have been involved in removal of thousands of illegal stamps and am recognized within the stamps division in charge of the categories.

Sadly, I have been informed that the departments that run the collecting categories have been reduced. That means "people" have been layed off and AI is replacing them. This is why the AI systems need to be "trained" and not manipulated into protecting obvious "bad apples" who use systems like "sponsored", "charity" and other means which they know allows them to continue sales of counterfeit stamps on eBay. These certain individuals are very savvy to the inner workings involved in selling these stamps and have been doing this for three decades now. The illegal stamp trade is very huge (up to 500 million dollars a year possibly more) and eBay is a primary source of revenue for it. End the sales on eBay and you affect the whole industry to its core because it will affect auction houses, wholesale venues and many other sources outside of eBay that sell them. If you cannot sell them on eBay, many of these people will not buy them outside of eBay in bulk and then turn them over on eBay. The main sources directly associated with the producers who are selling them directly on eBay will be stopped as well, making a major hit on their pocketbooks.

Here is an example: Try a search in the stamps categories for "Mali 2012". In 2012 Mali issued 2 stamps. What do you see? Now search for "Mali 2013". Mali issued ONE set of stamps (5 stamps) in 2013. What do you see? Now try searching for "Mali 2018". Mali issued NO STAMPS in 2018. What do you see? Should this be allowed? This is why the AI needs to be "trained" to eradicate them, no matter WHO is selling them.

This is JUST Mali. There are over 100 countries affected by illegal stamps. Mali is just a taste. It is not just a few stamps. It is now thousands and thousands of them.

[soh.maryl]

You do know that any eBay buyer who receives any item that is in any way not as described can open an item not as described case, right?

And that there's a strong possibility that eBay will view complaints from other stamp sellers with a large amount of skepticism because how does eBay know you're not a fellow seller trying to diminish the competition? 

[golowenow]

Read my last post. There is no "skepticism" because I am vetted by eBay Stamps division. When you have the head managers of the Stamps department and the Coins and currency departments "reporting" the same thing and THEY are ignored, then it is obvious that the seller is being protected.