Account Resale

The problem of account describes the unauthorized buying and selling of user accounts. It encompasses users who intentionally decide to sell their account, as wall as users whose accounts have been hijacked. Account resale only occurs on platforms where the progress or status tied to the identity of the user is valuable:

• In games, progress, achievements, or valuable virtual items can be obtained through account purchasing via real world currency
• In email providers, older accounts are often more highly trusted by spam-filters, and are often purchased by spammers to facilitate spam.
• In social media, accounts with lots of followers are often bought and sold.
  
• In e-commerce, seller accounts with large number of good ratings are valuable to new entrants.
  
• In online finance, selling an account (even with no assets tied to it) can be a powerful tool to aid the perpetration of money laundering.
  

As a form of identity fraud, unauthorized sale of accounts undermines the integrity of trust, poses security risks, and cuts against the ethos of fairness in online spaces.