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Ebay fraudsters jailed Three
people have been jailed in London this month after admitting global fraud
offences against several thousand people through a web auction site. Romanian
couple 30-year-old Nicolae and 23-year-old Adriana and 26-year-old George
Titar obtained more than £250,000 by deception from up to 3,000 people from
all over the world, between July 2003 and May 2005. Nicolae
Cretanu was sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment while Adriana
Cretanu and George Titar were jailed for two and a half years each. As
they accrued the money they transferred it out of UK jurisdiction back to
Romania, their country of origin. They
advertised items for sale on the Internet auction site "Ebay". The
advertisements offered a variety of goods for sale, ranging from motor
vehicles, sporting events, binoculars, electrical items and parachute
trousers. None of the goods ever existed. Bidders were advised that they had
been unsuccessful in their original bid but were being offered this
"second chance" to obtain a similar or identical item. Payment
for goods was sent by the victims via Western Union to one of the trio's 12
aliases. Armed with the money transfer number they were able to pick up the
payment within minutes of it being sent. Their
conviction follows an investigation by officers from the Met's Economic and
Specialist Crime unit in conjunction with FEXCO Money Transfer (who is
Western Union's UK representative). All were arrested in May 2005. Assistant
Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, head of the Met's Specialist Crime Directorate said: "This
type of crime is often seen as victimless, but my experience is that it has
huge emotional impact on the people losing the money and we are determined to
tackle these organised criminals. We are pleased that by working in
partnership with Western Union, we look forward to doing so with Ebay to
prevent such crime impacting on Londoners." Detective
Chief Superintendent Nigel Mawer, Head of the Economic and Specialist Crime Unit at the
Metropolitan Police said: "This
is a significant operational success by the Economic and Specialist Crime
Unit against an international organised criminal network using internet
auction sites and money transfer to make significant profit by defrauding
ordinary members of the public. Do not use money transfer to send money to someone whose identity
you do not know. " Related links: The Met joins forces with Western Union .
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TRIO JAILED OVER EBAY INTERNET SCAM -
3000 eBay Victims
4Law - Monday 31
October 2005
Three internet fraudsters who
helped pocket nearly £300,000 auctioning off an Aladdin's Cave of non-existent
goods have been jailed.
In the biggest con of its kind,
they and others tricked eager eBay customers from around the world to bid for
everything from parachute trousers to cars.
The trio of Nicolae Cretanu, 30,
his 23-year-old wife, Adriana, and George Titar, who made nearly £300,000
duping thousands of people into buying items that did not exist on eBay, were
jailed on Friday for carrying out a "well planned and sophisticated
fraud".
The Romanian husband and wife team would advertise on eBay for variety of items
including cars, concert tickets, among others. Most of these goods were
imaginary. The couple would then wait till the end of the auction, after which
they used to contact unsuccessful bidders and offer a "second chance"
for buying.
They used 12 aliases to hoodwink over 3,000 unsuspecting shoppers across the
world. The scam’s success was largely due to the fact that buyers on eBay
are required to pay before they receive their goods.
They also managed to exploit the eBay site as most of its customers’
e-mail addresses are available with it. As an eBay spokesman said,: "The
criminals used the site to gather information and initially to contact their
victims but carried out the fraud separately, beyond the protected environment
we provide". ‘Protected environment’ is the point beyond which
the website is not responsible for the transactions carried out.
Nicolae Cretanu - In the biggest fraud of its kind
uncovered so far, a Romanian couple and their accomplice tricked customers from
across the globe into paying for fictitious goods that never arrived.
The conned customers would then transfer the cash to England using Western
Union money transfer. The fraudsters used a host of counterfeit passports and
identities to collect the cash from Western Union's outlets. George Titar was
in charge of collecting the cash.
Chief Superintendent Nigel Mawer, head of specialist economic crime unit,
Scotland Yard's said though £300,000 in this case was "but a drop in the
ocean" as compared to the estimated £1bn a year, which was being swindled
from people across the globe, "eBay scams form a substantial part of
that".
The racket was exposed after it raised suspicions among the Western Union
staff, who alerted police. The trio were then arrested following an
investigation by Scotland Yard's economic crime unit. They have also been
served with deportation notices.
eBay also announced that it was going to follow suit in Britain of banning
payments through Western Union, as is being done on their US site, eBay.com. A
spokesman of eBay apologised, on behalf of the site, to all who had suffered
through their associations with them. He said: "These transactions did not
take place on eBay and as soon as we were made aware of them we took action. By
working with the police we helped ensure that the prosecutions were successful,
showing that crime does not pay on eBay".
Some 3,000 victims from as far
away as the United States and South Korea were snared by the trio in a scam
involving crime bosses in Romania and which police fear continues to this day.
Judge Duncan Matheson sentenced
Nicolae Cretanu, 30, to 3-1/2 years and his wife Adriana Cretanu 23, and their
accomplice George Titar, 26, to 30 months each.
Passing sentence, Judge Duncan
Matheson, QC, said: "This was on any showing a major, sophisticated and
well-designed fraud.
"I've been told there was
something like 3,000 victims around the world, with some 60% in the US and the
remainder from the UK, other countries in Europe and elsewhere."
He said that for nearly two years
they and their Eastern European masters "exploited perceived weaknesses in
the eBay system targeting a large number of people who parted with monies under
entirely fraudulent circumstances". The judge added he would also be
recommending to the Home Secretary that all three be deported upon their
release.
Adriana Cretanu - Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain
property by deception between July 1 2003 and May 31 this year and money laundering.
They were jailed for three and a half years and two and a half years
respectively.
"This was on any showing a
major and sophisticated fraud," Matheson told the Romanians as they stood
in the dock at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court
Between 2003 and 2005 the three
had played a major role in the fraud which worked by operating bogus auctions
for consumer goods ranging from scooters to military memorabilia.
Unsuspecting eBayers who tried to
buy the fictitious goods were contacted and told their bid had been
unsuccessful.
The disappointed bidders were
then offered a second chance to buy similar goods outside the eBay system which
gives some protection from fraud.
"These criminals used the
site to gather information and initially to contact their victims but carried
out the fraud separately beyond the protected environment we provide,"
eBay.co.uk said in a statement.
Through a variety of aliases and
using a number of forged Belgian passports, the Romanians made hundreds of
collections from Western Union money transfer outlets in London.
George Titar - Their accomplice, who collected the
payments from money transfer shops, admitted the same charges and was also
sentenced to two and a half years. Shoppers were told by e-mail that they had
been unsuccessful in their first bid but were offered a "second
chance" to buy a similar item.
They kept about 30 percent of the
money they stole, the rest they passed onto crime bosses in Romania and the
authorities are concerned the scam continues to be perpetuated by others.
British police believe the actual
fraud committed by the Romanians and their accomplices was far greater than the
300,000 pounds detailed in court.
Chief Supt Nigel Mawer, who led
the operation, said: "We believe there were 3,000 victims of this fraud
and this type of fraud is still continuing." The cell's accomplices in
Romania had been arrested and were awaiting trial.
The forged Belgian
passport belonging to Nicolae Cretanu, one of three Romanian fraudsters jailed
on Friday in London for their part in a worldwide fraud carried out via
Internet auction house eBay, which netted at least 300,000 pounds. Police
Handout