EBay trader fined for bidding on own auctions
Paul Barrett, a minibus firm owner from County Durham, has been fined £5,000 and ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid community work after being found guilty of "shill bidding" on his own eBay auctions. The authorities were alerted to the irregularities, which saw Mr Barrett using two different accounts to push up the price of his auctions, when they received a complaint that he sold a minibus with false low mileage.
After admitting 11 beaches of fair trade regulations he has become the first casualty of new legislation announced in 2008 to specifically tackle Internet fraud in the UK. While Paul Barrett is not the only person to have ever bid on his own auctions on eBay, this most certainly sends out a very strong warning to those looking at what is effectively Internet fraud.
EBay has welcomed the conviction as the battle to reduce similar activity on the gigantic auction site continues. A number of safety measures have been introduced over the years and indeed much of the fraud associated with online auctions in the past has been tackled and reduced although new and ever innovative ideas continue to emanate from the criminal fraternity.
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