gmb45
11th June, 2009, 03:22 AM
THOUSANDS of eBay users were conned out of ?500,000 in the online site's biggest fraud.
At least 3,000 people bought concert and sports event tickets from a seller trading as M-T Promotions. But the tickets never arrived.
And MT - who called himself Martin Thorne - emailed frustrated buyers saying his eBay account had been frozen because of a dispute with payment facility PayPal.
He insisted buyers had to recoup their cash from eBay. Victims reported weeks of "wrangling" with the auction site.
One buyer, Chris Trickett from Halifax, paid ?135 for two Take That tickets. He said: "I am annoyed that eBay gave this guy powerseller status. That is why he got away with scamming so many people.
"It's been a nightmare."
Last night eBay said cops had been called in to investigate the scam and promised to reimburse all those affected.
A spokesman said a "holding payment" system was being considered to prevent future scams.
At least 3,000 people bought concert and sports event tickets from a seller trading as M-T Promotions. But the tickets never arrived.
And MT - who called himself Martin Thorne - emailed frustrated buyers saying his eBay account had been frozen because of a dispute with payment facility PayPal.
He insisted buyers had to recoup their cash from eBay. Victims reported weeks of "wrangling" with the auction site.
One buyer, Chris Trickett from Halifax, paid ?135 for two Take That tickets. He said: "I am annoyed that eBay gave this guy powerseller status. That is why he got away with scamming so many people.
"It's been a nightmare."
Last night eBay said cops had been called in to investigate the scam and promised to reimburse all those affected.
A spokesman said a "holding payment" system was being considered to prevent future scams.