posted 10-28-2005 10:42 AM
<<Three Romanians who conned eBay customers out of thousands of pounds have been sentenced to a total of eight years' imprisonment.
The "cell" tricked customers into paying for £250,000 worth of fictitious goods which never arrived. The man said to be the "cell's" ring leader, Nicolae Cretanu, 30, of Forest Gate, London, was given a three and a half year term for the fraud. His wife Adriana, 23, and George Titar, 26, both got two and a half years. The couple advertised everything from cars to concert tickets and used 12 aliases and an accomplice to collect the payments. Their accomplice Titar, of Stratford, London, collected payments from money transfer shops.
The two-year scam was successful because buyers on eBay have to pay before they are sent their goods. People were told by email that had been unsuccessful in their first bid but were offered a "second chance" to buy a similar item. But the goods they purchased never arrived and the Cretanus managed to net at least £250,000. The majority of the cash was sent back to the couple's accomplices in Romania in what the police described as a "well-planned" and "sophisticated fraud".
The racket was finally exposed after suspicious staff at money transfer firm Western Union alerted police. Chief Superintendent Nigel Mawer who led said the fraud was operated by a "cell of Romanians operating in London". They were arrested in May of this year after an investigation by Scotland Yard's specialist economic crime unit.>>
note: It was Western Union, NOT Ebay, who alerted police to the fraud.
Paul Bramley
posted 10-28-2005 10:42 AM
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