A RESIDENT had thousands of pounds stolen from his bank account after he transferred money to a seller who emailed him a fake eBay link.
65-year-old Cyd Poole from Chester, found a Volkswagen Transporter on Auto Trader four days ago, and contacted the seller, who identified himself as Evelyn Hale. Cyd received the link the seller claimed was to eBay, so he could make a quick sale. He immediately purchased the £10,000 van via bank transfer.
After waiting for two days to hear back from the seller, who had normally replied straight away to his emails, Cyd contacted eBay and was told was no record of this purchase.
“It was horrifying,” Mr Poole said. “I called eBay because I hadn’t heard anything about my purchase. I never expected to be told I had been scammed,” he added.
He was told the seller illegally created a website that looked like eBay with only the intention to take his money.
“I rang my bank immediately, but they said there was nothing they could do,” said Cyd.
The money was Cyd’s investment he had saved for over one year to buy a new van.
“I am so upset that there is nothing that can be done. The Police are aware of what has happened to me, but at the moment I have lost £10,000,” he said.
Chris, a Customer Service Advisor for eBay, advises everyone to be suspicious of any links that look like eBay, especially at this time of the year when online crime is at its highest.
“It’s quite common for people to call and say they have been in this situation,” Chris said.
EBay never send attachments in their emails, and it is always important to check the website. Anything that looks unusual should raise alarm bells.
PayPal is the safest payment method as they will generally cover any fraudulent activity.
Diana, who works at Currys, recommends an Internet Security software like Norton, which automatically detects any suspicious behaviour to prevent this type of crime happening.
Chester Intelligencer reporter, Amy Poole
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