For instance, a Manchester resident received two emails about an item that was listed on Craigslist for 1200 pounds.  A scammer stumbled onto the ad and said that they wanted the item and would post a check right away.  Once the check arrived it was written well over the price of the item and a second email from the scammer stated it should be used to pay the ‘shipper’ he was going to send to pick up the item.

The scammer continued to explain that the seller should take the 1200 pounds out of the check balance and then use the rest of the money to pay the ‘shipper’ via a money transfer company adding that the victim could keep 100 pounds for the trouble.  Throughout the email poor grammar, poor English, and a sense of urgency all clearly shine through as warning signs that a scam was underway.

As you may imagine, had the check been deposited it would have bounced and the ‘shipper’ that was paid would become untraceable as the funds would well be on their way into the scammer’s pockets without spending a penny.

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One scam is called the rubber cheque, and while it isn’t exclusive to the website, it is a common scam. Essentially, the buyer will send a cheque despite their missing funds, and you will discover after you send their purchase that the cheque has bounced. To avoid this, sellers should not send anything to buyers unless they are certain that the payment has cleared. Alternately, they could not accept cheques and ask for only electronic payment.

Another scam done by buyers is one in which the real owner of the credit card that was used to purchase the goods has control of the credit card. The credit card owner can call the bank that their card is under and tell them that they did not purchase the goods and that the card is being used in a fraudulent way. Sometimes, the transaction will be reversed without the bank looking into the situation.

Finally, sellers should look out for the scam in which a PayPal account is stolen. A buyer can steal a PayPal account and ask you to ship to a different address than the account is listed under: the address at which they will themselves receive the goods. Shipping to a different address is generally a very bad idea for sellers.

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The plan calls for the Office of Fair Trading to step in and issue fines, investigate, and file formal lawsuits when the industry lacks appropriate efforts to guard consumers against fraud and adequate competition.

OFT Director, Noah Curthoys, stated that the strategy should help increase growth and competition by utilizing methods that are focused on protecting online consumers, which will in turn help the UK become a leader across the globe in online enforcement.

Last year 9.5% of all UK retail sales were from internet transactions, which was a higher proportion than what was seen across Europe according to the OFT.  Additionally, the OFT stated that 71% of all retailers in the UK have internet sales portals compared to the European Union average of 51%.

The Government started to make plans after it found that 6% of those that make internet purchases have lost their money due to fraud online.

The OFT stated that it is still seeking input from consumers, businesses, and trade groups before it actually publishes a proposal this December.  In a press statement the group also said that it has consulted already with Amazon Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, and Microsoft Corp.

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Paul Barrett was the first person within the UK to be prosecuted for fixing online auction prices after he admitted that he used dual eBay accounts to bid against his own items.

He was caught after a complaint was issued against his mini-bus hire firm leading to an investigation from the North Yorkshire Trading Standards.  The complaint was that he sold and advertised a vehicle on eBay with lower mileage than it had originally.

Officers discovered that Barrett was selling goods on the auction site under the name ‘shanconpaul’ and then using the name ‘paulthebusman’ to bid on them.  He would also use the second account to post positive feedback for the account as well.

He was found guilty of breaching both the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008.

Barrett plead guilty but stated that he did not know that bidding against his own auctions was a criminal offense.

The Office of Fair Trading 2007 report stated that shill bidding is one of the most popular types of problems that occur with online auction site bidders.  In fact, 14% of those polled in a survey stated that they thought they had been victims of shill bidding.

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Although Apple sells billions of apps and songs to iTunes users on a regular basis, with this many sales it is bound to attract fraudsters as well.  However, new app purchases that have boosted the sales of one App Store developer up by forty points seem highly suspicious.

The category in question appears in books and is a Japanese manga set of titles published by supposed developer Thuat Nguen.  It is very unlikely that 80% of Apples book sales were from these anime book apps given the fact that they were all dumped into the App Store within just a few days and appear to violate property rights.

Of course, the larger concern is that the junk apps are repeatedly being reported by several iTunes users as fraud.  Ratings attached to many of the titles complain about discovering that the purchases were made without their permission on their accounts although there is a rash of positive reviews interspersed among these creating the image that the group behind the fraudulent sales may be attempting to cover their tracks.

Outside of the fact that the book sales are ruining the integrity of the App store charts, but they also are dropping the rank of legitimate titles by developers so that shoppers cannot view them as easily hurting the value of the overall Apple Store to users.

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More than half of all emails are phishing emails were fraudulent emails created to look like legitimate correspondence from banks on high street.  According to industry figures, banking fraud increased by 132% over the last year.

Almost half of all those surveyed were worried that their card details may be used to make online purchases illegally.

Con artists have also started to use social networking sites taking advantage of defaults within the privacy settings of these websites in order to exploit and target victims.

Almost a fifth of all Britons have received fake Facebook messages that claim to have been sent from friends of their family and a third of all Britons are worried about their social networking accounts getting hacked.

Identity fraud expert at CPP, Nicole Sanders, stated that it seems as if a day does not pass without another case of fraud online taking top billing on the news.  However, the more concerning part about this is that consumers are still being victimized due to the fact fraudsters are becoming much more skilled at their trade making it hard to discern a legitimate email from a scam email.

She added that as social networking becomes more popular people need to be careful about what type of information they post online.

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Paul Barrett aged 39 from Stanley in County Durham may be the first person in the UK to be prosecuted under a new set of laws designed to prevent people from bidding on their own products in order to inflate prices.

His bidding antics first came to light when the North Yorkshire Trading Standards council addressed a complaint that Barrett had sold a minibus on the popular auction site eBay with many more miles on the clock than he had advertised.

However, when looking into Barrett officers found that he had been selling items with one user name and using another name to bid on them, a process that is known in the auction business as shill bidding.

In addition, Barrett also left positive feedback for himself on his eBay seller’s site in order to leave buyers with the idea that he had a solid reputation as a seller.  Barrett admitted to the offences in April after he was questioned.  He also told magistrates that he was unaware that is was a criminal offence to bid on his own items.

Among the items he had listed for sale were a Range Rover, Mercedes car, mobile phones, a pie and pastry warmer, a digital camera, and a cash register.

Yesterday in a Bradford Crown Court the judge told Barrett that he may receive jail time when sentenced in July.  Other sentencing possibilities include a fine that could total up to £50,000.

Barrett was found guilty of breaking laws from the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008.

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With about 25,000 England fans expected to head to South Africa for the game, the Office of Fair Trading predicts that one out of every 12 ticket buyers will be caught by a scam.

In fact, in just the last year almost half a million Britons were scammed by ticket fraud, out of which half lost their money according to online ticket vendor Viagogo.

This week, two people were arrested in regards to fraud after a West Sussex internet company that sold World Cup packages announced it had gone bankrupt.

Advice servicer from Consumer Direct, Michele Shambrook, stated that major events such as music festivals and sporting affairs like the World Cup are ideal targets for ticket scammers and thus when buying tickets overseas it pays to be extra attentive.

Shambrook advised that it can be hard to purchase tickets from a website that is written in a different language so it is important to do your research by placing the website name into a search query and reading others consumer reviews.  This is due to the fact that search engines offer translation options so that you can see what you are getting into.

The OFT reported that outside of World Cup fans, those who plan on attending foreign music festivals such as Exit in Serbia, Benicassim in Spain, and Soundwave in Croatia should also be on guard.

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The jail term, which began this month, will probably end Raynor’s career in rugby, but Judge Thorne said that he really had no choice.  Raynor was also under suspended sentence for a July 2008 assault on a doorman, and was told in no uncertain terms that any further misbehaviour would mean a jail sentence.

The scam that led to Raynor’s sentencing apparently began long before the arrest for assault in 2008.  It involved the importing of second-hand reconditioned ink cartridges from China to Raynor’s home in Brough, near Hull.

The used cartridges were then re-packaged to look like new products from companies such as HP and Canon.  Under the name ‘Genuine Ink’, Raynor was selling these fake cartridges on the Internet auction site eBay to the tune of about £36,500 in illegal profits.

In August of 2008, trading standards officers with East Riding Yorkshire Council raided the Brough residence and found a large quantity of the fake cartridges in the house and garage.  Investigators also found that Raynor had been counterfeiting computer games such as Nintendo and Gameboy.

Raynor’s attorney told the Court that his client was deeply remorseful, and both former coach Brian Noble and the former chaplain of Hull FC offered character references.  The judge was not swayed, and handed down the sentence for both assault and fraud.

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In just three years John Koukoullis was able to make £2.7m in selling fake tickets, but now he is the first person to be prosecuted for fraud because of his choices.

Trading under the business names of Herts Box Office and previously Direct Dispatch, Koukoullis was able to sell thousands of tickets that he never owned.

In his time defrauding people, he was prosecuted by trading standards officers on four different occasions, but it did not stop him as he chose to instead set up a new operation to take the place of the one that was closed down.

He carried on doing this sometimes delivering tickets and other times not, until the Hertfordshire Trading Standards tried a new tactic by charging him with the Fraud Act for selling tickets without stating their actual face value, laundering the proceeds, and selling football tickets without the proper authorization.

In the end his entire history of fraudulent transactions came out on trial as well as the fact that he was a calculating, dishonest man.

It took the jury less than an hour to convict him of his crimes and he will now face sentencing in August of this year with the possibility of losing everything he owns.

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