Howard falls £3,500 prey to net scammers

WARNING others . . . scam victim Howard Maloney hopes others won’t make the same mistake as him online

THE victim of a £3,500 internet scam has warned buyers to beware online auctions.

Howard Maloney of High Crompton fell victim to the scam on eBay after bidding for a T-shirt printer to set up his own business after a year of unemployment.

The 56 year old’s final bid was successful and he received an email asking him to deposit £3,500 into a bank account.

A few days later he saw the printer back up for auction - and realised his mistake.

An eBay investigation found the seller’s account had been hacked by thieves who had sent the email and stolen the money.

“I know I’ve been scammed and I hold my hands up to that,” he said. “I’ve only bought a few things online before and I was really excited that I’d managed to get the printer at such a good price.

“The email seemed to come from eBay so I followed the instructions and made the transfer.

“It was only after I had sent the money and I started to get emails asking if I had sent the money.”

Since he hadn’t used eBay’s online system, PayPal, to make the payment, eBay said there was nothing they could do to help him get his money back.

“I was devastated. The scam left me with £90 in my bank account.”

After the Chronicle spoke to eBay, the company has agreed to contact Mr Maloney and do what it can to help.

A spokesman for eBay said: “Criminal activity isn’t tolerated on eBay and we work closely with law enforcement to keep eBay safe.”