Trade Me con nets $51,000

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A Napier man has been jailed after scamming more than $51,000 from Trade Me users, the biggest fraud by an individual to hit the website.

Eric William Rogers, an American resident in Hawke's Bay since 2001, offered for sale goods he never intended to deliver.

Between October 8 and November 28, 2008, he listed 56 bogus auctions, mostly digital cameras and mobile phones.

Rogers, who is in his late-30s, was sentenced this week in the Napier District Court to 17 months in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes. He will be deported on his release.

On June 9, 2008, he registered on Trade Me as "digitaltrades", using the name of an associate, and traded with a good history until the offending began.

Fifty-five people collectively paid $51,873 into a bank account in the name of his associate. They did not receive the goods Rogers promised, nor did they get back their money.

Rogers had approached the associate to open the Trade Me account and bank account after his previous account was terminated when he did not supply items he had sold.

Trade Me trust and safety manager Chris Budge said the case involved the largest number of users ripped off by one person.

Budge said that on November 5 the website had prevented Rogers from selling items after receiving five complaints about non-delivery in the previous five days. On November 10, Rogers was banned from membership.

Budge said website users should tell Trade Me if they had concerns about a seller.

"We advise people to look at their feedback, look at any auctions they have done - see if they have address verification and ask questions.

"Where is the product? What does it look like? If there are any concerns, use the contact icon at the end of the page."

Last year Richard John Worthington, 29, was ordered by the Nelson District Court to complete 230 hours of community work and repay $8226.70 after he ripped off Trade Me customers.

In less than a month he listed 482 auctions and completed 203. Winners deposited money into his account but didn't receive their purchases.

In 2007, internet watchdog ScamBusters said a Romanian gang was responsible for phishing scams on Trade Me, harvesting credit card details.

Fraudulent listings over 18 months led to more than 3000 fraudulent actions, affecting about 1000 users.

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY