The couple, Ina and David Steiner, were bombarded with terrifying threats and freaky deliveries, including live spiders, cockroaches, a funeral wreath and a bloody pig mask.

The online giant's employees and contractors were behind the vile campaign, which was aimed at silencing the couple's reporting and protecting the eBay brand, according to prosecutors.

Acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell said:"eBay engaged in absolutely horrific, criminal conduct. The company's employees and contractors involved in this campaign put the victims through pure hell, in a petrifying campaign aimed at silencing their reporting and protecting the eBay brand."

"We left no stone unturned in our mission to hold accountable every individual who turned the victims' world upside-down through a never-ending nightmare of menacing and criminal acts."

The Justice Department charged eBay with six counts of stalking and obstruction of justice. The company agreed to pay $3 million as part of a deal to avoid prosecution. eBay will also have to hire an independent monitor for three years to make sure it follows the law and stops terrorising innocent people.

The sick plot to target the Steiners was hatched in April 2019 at eBay, when former CEO Devin Wenig shared a link to a post Ina Steiner had written about his annual pay.

The company's chief communications officer, Steve Wymer, replied: "We are going to crush this lady." A month later, Wenig texted: "Take her down."

Wymer then texted eBay security director Jim Baugh: "I want to see ashes. As long as it takes. Whatever it takes." Baugh gathered a team of security staff and sent them to Boston, where the Steiners lived, to spy on them and intimidate them.

"Senior executives at eBay were frustrated with the newsletter's tone and content, and with the comments posted beneath the newsletter's articles," the Department of Justice said in its statement.

Two former eBay security bosses were jailed over the incident.