San Jose (CA) - As cyber crimes continue to plague everyone on an exponentially increasing level, Ebay has announced that it will begin taking measures to reduce the amount of fraud that takes place through its domain, as the company looks to really overhaul its online security for the first time in years.

During a webcasted conference with some of the online auction site's top sellers, eBay's North America president Bill Cobb expressed concern over the rise of people who don't ship out items or list counterfeit merchandise as real, along with people who have found more clever ways of manipulating the system.

Cobb said that one key target that could more easily be monitored is the selling of fraudulent and pirated merchandise, which is not always easily caught or reported by the buyers, or the wording in the auction is deceptive so that the victim has no means of restitution.

Top-end products, like cars and jewelry, will also be on Ebay's watch list as it puts new measures into place to ensure that both the buyers and sellers are legitimite. With around two billion new items put up for sale every year, it has historically been difficult and financially unmanageable to have a comprehensive anti-fraud program for the site.

Accordingly, Ebay has been panned by many for its lack of customer service and overall blase attitude towards fraud and online scams that happen on the site every day. However, recently, complaints were being filed in large numbers from Ebay's top sellers, which is believed to be the mainly reason that triggered Ebay's sudden attitude shift.

"Where we've historically put an emphasis on transparency and free choice, today the security threats are more complex, and we're more actively protecting our buyers from fraud," said Cobb. Spokesperson Hani Durzy echoed Cobb's comments yesterday, saying, "In 2007, you'll see a sea of change in our approach to trust and safety."