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06/07/2010
£5,000 Fine For ebay Fraudster
An eBay seller has been fined nearly £5,000 after admitting to bidding in his own auctions to boost the price of his goods.
The case, the first of its kind in the UK since the introduction of new legislation to tackle internet fraud, saw Paul Barrett, a minibus firm owner from Stanley, Co. Durham, plead guilty to eleven charges of breaching fair trading regulations.
The 39-year-old, who was spared a jail sentence because he had no previous convictions, was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of nearly £1,500. He was also ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work.
The court heard how Barrett had used a practice known as 'shill bidding' on the internet auction site. Trading Standards investigators discovered that Barrett had two different logins for the site and would advertise under one name, but put bids in on the item under another name, in order to boost the price.
The items involved included two Mercedes vehicles, a pie and pasty warmer, a cash register, a refrigerated display counter, three mobile phones and a digital camera.
An investigation into Barrett's eBay practices was launched after Trading Standards received a complaint from a customer who claimed that he had been sold a minibus with false low mileage.
(KMcA/BMcC)
The case, the first of its kind in the UK since the introduction of new legislation to tackle internet fraud, saw Paul Barrett, a minibus firm owner from Stanley, Co. Durham, plead guilty to eleven charges of breaching fair trading regulations.
The 39-year-old, who was spared a jail sentence because he had no previous convictions, was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of nearly £1,500. He was also ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work.
The court heard how Barrett had used a practice known as 'shill bidding' on the internet auction site. Trading Standards investigators discovered that Barrett had two different logins for the site and would advertise under one name, but put bids in on the item under another name, in order to boost the price.
The items involved included two Mercedes vehicles, a pie and pasty warmer, a cash register, a refrigerated display counter, three mobile phones and a digital camera.
An investigation into Barrett's eBay practices was launched after Trading Standards received a complaint from a customer who claimed that he had been sold a minibus with false low mileage.
(KMcA/BMcC)
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