Teenager lives like a king thx to eBay fraud

Teenager lives like a king thx to eBay fraud

Police have issued a warning to users of internet auction sites after a teenage fraudster conned eBay customers to fund a luxury lifestyle.
The 17-year-old from Pontypool, near Newport, built up £45,000 in various bank accounts by offering goods for sale that did not exist.

He treated himself to weekends in New York, and hired stretch limousines for nights out with friends.

He also bought designer clothes, expensive gadgets, and a quad bike.

Cwmbran Youth Court heard that, when police raided his home, they found top-of-the-range computers, hi-fi equipment, and flat-screen TVs.

Gwent Police have now issued a warning to users of internet auction sites to make sure they use make use of security measures to avoid losing their money.

They want buyers to use secure ways of paying and to follow safety advice given by the sites.

DC Steve Thomas, who led the investigation, said it was sometimes difficult to monitor security on such sites, and some people had not received property for which they had paid.

"Customers must guard against making any payment using an unsafe method like a straight bank transfer," he urged.

"That's literally just giving money over. It's better to use a safe way like a credit card payment or the site's PayPal scheme."


Internet auctions attract millions every day
After he was arrested, the teenager told police he had been "living the good life" with the money he had taken off unwitting customers.

He said he could not stop defrauding his victims because he was addicted to the eBay website, and it "gave him a buzz."

Magistrates heard that the boy - who cannot be named because of his age - used the proceeds of his scam to fly to New York with two friends.

They stayed at a five-star hotel overlooking Times Square and took a helicopter ride over Manhattan.

He was always dressed in expensive designer clothes and loved to buy the latest electronic gadgets.

He could not drive, so he hired stretch limos to take his friends on nights out.

But police were alerted by eBay customers who had been conned by the teenager.

He was arrested and freed on police bail while an investigation was carried out.

The court heard he had advertised mobile phones, computer consoles, cameras, and camcorders for sale - none of which had ever been in his possession.

Prosecutor Peter Moore said: "He set up three bank accounts to handle cash, which he obtained via bank transfer. But he was not content with taking people's money - he later taunted them by e-mailing them with details of how he'd spent it."

The court heard the boy duped more than 100 eBay customers over 13 months. One victim lost £2,500.

The boy admitted 21 charges of fraud amounting to £16,105 and asked for a further 64 offences - amounting to £28,860 - to be taken into consideration.

Magistrates decided they did not have enough power to deal with the boy and he will be sentenced at Newport Crown Court next month.

i heard about this on the radio this morning...

knowing the bristish judicial system he'll get a slap on the wrist, sent on safari to africa & made to pay compensation of 2p per week!

Re: Teenager lives like a king thx to eBay fraud

Shocking

Re: Teenager lives like a king thx to eBay fraud

cheeky bastard!

Re: Re: Teenager lives like a king thx to eBay fraud

Is it a young Pike

Tekno Industries is even into Army surplus at the moment

Surely he must have had a low feedback%. Why did people still buy from him

was kinda thinkin that meself like

Because 75% of people in this country are fucking idiots......surely to God the guy who lost £2,500 didn't send a cheque or something? Surely he would use paypal? Surely he read the persons feedback? And so on....

Shame he is gonna get raped by the system for other peoples stupidity

eh? i hope the stupid little bragging shite gets butt fucked for england.

you wouldn't be saying that if it was your grannie that he robbed of her savings then took his scallie mates out.


(no - i wasn't conned...)

This is true, but to be fair there are a lot worse crimes being commited all the time

I would be a bit more pissed off if he knocked my grannie down in the street for her handbag, or broke into her home !

u know yourself thats a bullshit arguement to use... does it mean they should ignore petty crime?

Not at all, he defo deserves to be punished, my original post was maybe a little too light hearted

I just think the lad has a lot of testicular fortitude

Dont all con men?

Aye, but i recon a large majority of con men dont email the people they conned to tell them how they spent the money.

People who con me on eBay dont get off easy. The down point is I have their home address.

I never forget and revenge is a dish best served cold.

One person in Durham who ripped me off for £75 got a nasty suprise a few weeks later.

*evil cackle*

I knew that favour the Sherburn Mafia owed me would come in handy one day

do you fancy a trip to cumbria to pay som ebitch a visit who sent me the wrong size fucking mostro's???

I aint been conned on Ebay yet

My time will come