Six former eBay Inc. employees have been arrested over a cyberstalking campaign in which they targeted a couple who had been critical of the company.

The employees are alleged to have started cyberstalking the couple from Natick, Massachusetts, during 2019. The unnamed couple publish an online newsletter covering e-commerce businesses and were critical of eBay’s business practices.

The cyberstalking included the accused sending the couple threatening messages and “disturbing deliveries,” including a box of live cockroaches, a funeral wreath and a bloody pig mask. In addition, some of the eBay employees are alleged to have conducted covert surveillance on them.

That they went to such lengths is disturbing by itself, but where it gets worse is that it involved senior eBay employees. Among those arrested were David Harville, eBay’s former director of global resiliency, and James Baugh, eBay’s former senior director of safety and security.

The other four arrested were Stephanie Popp, eBay’s former senior manager of global intelligence; Stephanie Stockwell, the former manager of eBay’s Global Intelligence Center; Veronica Zea, a former eBay contractor who worked as an intelligence analyst in the GIC; and Brian Gilbert, a former senior manager of special operations for eBay’s Global Security Team.

As alleged, the extensive harassment campaign launched by these six @eBayemployees included sending embarrassing & disturbing deliveries to the Natick couple's home, including a bloody pig mask, sympathy wreath, a book on how to survive the loss of a spouse, & live insects. pic.twitter.com/U2d1fgsLJD

— FBI Boston (@FBIBoston) June 15, 2020

According to the Department of Justice, the campaign started after two members of eBay executive leadership team sent or forwarded text messages suggesting that it was time to “take down” the newsletter’s editor. The six arrested then started their harassment campaign.

The names of the eBay executives were not revealed, with eBay saying in a statement that no current employees were involved. Interestingly, eBay says it investigated then-Chief Executive Officer Devin Wenig and found that although his communications were inappropriate, there was no evidence that he knew in advance about or authorized the actions taken.

Wenig left eBay in September after serving in the role since 2015. It was reported at the time that Wenig had stepped down after coming into conflict with eBay’s board, although it was not disclosed on what particular topics.

All six of the accused have been charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses, each charge carrying a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution.

Image: Jhil Verma/Flickr