Chippenham man tried to buy £25,000 Ferrari with dud cheque (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Chippenham man tried to buy £25,000 Ferrari with dud cheque

8:41am Thursday 18th December 2008

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An alleged fraudster has been arrested after a £25,000 cheque he used to buy a Ferrari convertible from eBay bounced.

The 22-year-old, from New Road, Chippenham, was the highest bidder for the sports car during an on-line auction.

Instead of using an electronic payment method, the buyer sent a cheque which bounced.

The seller was unable to contact the buyer and so contacted police who arrested the 22-year-old, a disqualified driver.

Police are now warning people to always use PayPal when buying any goods from the Internet, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

Sergeant Lee Armit of the Chippenham Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We would always advise that people use a secure method of payment, preferably PayPal.

“Whenever buying items from eBay you should never pay directly to the seller – it is not secure and means that this sort of thing can happen.

“Online fraud is on the up all the time and you must take steps to safeguard yourself, both as a seller and a buyer.”

The man has now been released on police bail while investigations continue.

A spokesman for eBay said: “We advise all sellers and buyers to take all the necessary precautions when using eBay.

“We strongly recommend that sellers only accept credit cards or PayPal accounts.”

It is estimated that almost £1billion will be spent on eBay for buying Christmas presents this year.

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