Informer
10-08-07, 03:03 PM
Sussex is in the grip of a high-tech crimewave with dozens of eBay customers being targeted by criminals every month.
New figures reveal 290 incidents of fraud, theft and other crimes were reported to police by victims in the last financial year - an increase of 80 per cent on 2005.
Fraud accounted for the majority of incidents, with 209 complaints, while various forms of theft - including burglary and car stealing - made up 42 crimes.
Other crimes recorded in the statistics, released under the Freedom of Information Act, involved the handling of stolen goods, harassment, unauthorised access to computerised material and false representation.
The eBay website is an online marketplace for registered users to buy and sell goods. Common payment methods include cheque, postal order, or the online payment system PayPal.
Last August Shahzad Ali Shah, 23, from Crawley, bought a car on eBay was robbed at gunpoint when he went to hand over the cash. He agreed to meet the seller in east London to get his Mercedes Benz Kompressor C180 but when he arrived, four men surrounded his car, one man produced a gun and demanded the money.
Mr Ali Shah said: "It was a terrifying ordeal."
Some 20 million items are available on eBay with 3.5 million added every day. eBay's motoring site is the fastest-growing area, with a car sold every four minutes.
[Source (http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1596897.0.sussex_hit_by_internet_crime wave.php)]
New figures reveal 290 incidents of fraud, theft and other crimes were reported to police by victims in the last financial year - an increase of 80 per cent on 2005.
Fraud accounted for the majority of incidents, with 209 complaints, while various forms of theft - including burglary and car stealing - made up 42 crimes.
Other crimes recorded in the statistics, released under the Freedom of Information Act, involved the handling of stolen goods, harassment, unauthorised access to computerised material and false representation.
The eBay website is an online marketplace for registered users to buy and sell goods. Common payment methods include cheque, postal order, or the online payment system PayPal.
Last August Shahzad Ali Shah, 23, from Crawley, bought a car on eBay was robbed at gunpoint when he went to hand over the cash. He agreed to meet the seller in east London to get his Mercedes Benz Kompressor C180 but when he arrived, four men surrounded his car, one man produced a gun and demanded the money.
Mr Ali Shah said: "It was a terrifying ordeal."
Some 20 million items are available on eBay with 3.5 million added every day. eBay's motoring site is the fastest-growing area, with a car sold every four minutes.
[Source (http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1596897.0.sussex_hit_by_internet_crime wave.php)]