Police email reveals Ebay investigation shambles

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By Stewart Mitchell and Barry Collins

Posted on 10 Dec 2007 at 08:14

A leaked email sent to victims of an Ebay fraud has once again exposed the woeful lack of police resources devoted to solving e-crime.

The email reveals:

• A single police constable is leading an investigation into crimes totalling tens of thousands of pounds
• A complete lack of co-ordination between different police forces
• That Ebay has "a big problem" with a hijacked account scam being perpetrated across the UK

Click here to read the full text of the police email sent to Ebay fraud victims

PC Pro reader, Andrew Holder, contacted us after police failed to act on his report of Ebay fraud. He paid £600 for electrical equipment that never arrived. "I phoned the police in Belfast, where the seller listed himself, but they said I should report the case to my local station, which I did," he says.

"They listened to the problem, but basically said there was nothing they could do - the Warminster station only had one officer on duty and he simply didn't have time and my case went to the bottom of the in-tray."

Holder decided to track down the seller himself and came across an internet forum dedicated to people who'd suffered the same fate. "Soon we set up another forum with 14 other victims and we started to compare notes, trying to track him down through bank details," says Holder.

"He was carrying out several different frauds, using several different accounts and many hijacked, legitimate accounts. He is purporting to sell everything from plasma TVs to outboard motors."

Through the forum, Holder also found that another victim had managed to get Hampshire police to take the matter seriously. The constable involved diligently collated the evidence gathered by the forum members and is updating them on his progress via email.

But in an update sent on 5 December, the Hampshire PC admits he has been overwhelmed by the flood of people reporting Ebay fraud to him. "I will be quite honest and say that I never believed the number of victims would grow so fast," his message reads. "I have been away for two days and came back to almost 100 emails."

The constable tells the forum members he can only investigate crimes that have been committed in Hampshire, and implores them to report incidences of Ebay fraud to their local station. However, he later concedes that the other forces may fail to investigate the crimes if they learn of his own probe. "DO not tell your local force that I am collecting all the crimes as they will not then start the investigation and we will lose valuable time," his message reads. "Instead, you can explain to them that Hampshire has an investigation started on certain suspects but they must make the link first."

Widespread crime

The policeman's email reveals the scale of the auction fraud. "Ebay has a big problem and there are many people trying this scam all over the UK," it says. "I appreciate that this is frustrating for you all, but you have to understand that I have to (and only allowed to) [sic] investigate crimes that have been committed in my force area."

Indeed, the scale of the victims' frustration leads the police officer to make a plaintive plea for calm. "Please continue to send me information that you feel is important... And please no swearing, some have contained inappropriate language which I then have to explain to my boss."

Hampshire Police was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.