Minibus company owner fined £5,000 for shill bidding on eBay
A minibus hire company owner from County Durham has been hit with a hefty fine after a court ruling which found he had committed internet fraud through the online auction website eBay.
Paul Barett has been ordered to pay £5,000 in costs and fines and carry out 250 hours of unpaid work after admitting 11 breaches of fair trading regulations.
The 39-year-old had artificially increased the prices of items he was selling through eBay by bidding on them himself. Trading Standards officers discovered Mr Barett had two log-ins. one of which was used to sell items, the other to place bids thus pushing up the item’s price.
The practice is known as “shill bidding” and this is the first time a case of this nature has been brought in the UK. In 2008 new regulations were introduced to help stamp out internet fraud.
Mr Barett’s illegal behaviour was finally uncovered after a complaint was received after he sold a minibus through the auction site with a fake low mileage.
The minibus operator was told by the judge during the court ruling that the only reason he had escaped a custodial sentence was because he didn’t have any previous convictions for dishonesty.