Man cashed in on eBay fraud
A man convicted of three frauds on eBay must pay £1,250 compensation to his victims.
A caravan and two Toyotas were advertised on Nicholas Skinner’s eBay account, but the purchasers heard nothing more from him once they had paid money into his bank, Spalding magistrates heard.
Skinner (25), of Railway Lane, Sutton Bridge, pleaded not guilty to fraudulently obtaining £500 from Kerisina Wasarirevu, fraudulently obtaining £250 from Sam Kuete and fraudulently obtaining £500 from Cheryl Griffiths.
But magistrates found the cases proved at a hearing in December.
At Thursday’s resumed hearing, Skinner was ordered to pay full compensation, and given a year-long community order with supervision and a requirement to attend 19 group work sessions on a thinking skills programme.
The offences were committed in March and April of 2011.
Jim Clare, prosecuting, said Cheryl Griffiths contacted a mobile number and spoke to a man who gave his details as Nicholas Skinner.
She deposited £500 into a bank account, but after that the phone number could not be contacted and she heard nothing more about the caravan.
Sam Kuete paid £250 into a Norwich and Peterborough account for the red Toyota pick-up after contacting the number advertised but no van was ever received.
And Kerisina Wasarirevu similarly paid £500 for the blue Toyota van and nothing was received.
Solicitor Mike Alexander, mitigating, said Skinner had maintained he didn’t know his eBay account was being used by another and that he hadn’t done anything dishonest.
But Mr Alexander said all of the sums were paid into Skinner’s own bank account.
Mr Alexander said it wasn’t the most sophisticated kind of offence as everything came back to the eBay account holder with their proper name and address.
He told magistrates: “It’s quite clear your colleagues found he has stolen this money, effectively, from the three people involved.
“He accepts the position that these people have been ripped off. He had put his own actions down to stupidity.”
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