Police say they have arrested and charged a woman over an alleged scam in which Trade Me members were contacted by text message and sold non-existent iPhones and iPads.
A 24-year-old woman appeared in Auckland District Court on Tuesday, charged with accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose. Investigations are continuing and she has been remanded to reappear on August 23 when further charges are likely to be laid.
She has been remanded in custody on unrelated matters to reappear tomorrow.
The Auckland city district police financial crime unit had been working on an arrest for some time and acknowledge the assistance of the team at the auction website Trade Me, including the initial tip-off about the text scamming activity, police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said.
Trade Me trust and safety manager Jon Duffy said it was good to see an arrest made after there were multiple complaints.
