|
 |
|
Message from the Global Law Enforcement Operations Team:
Hello! and welcome to the Global Law Enforcement Operations Police Blotter. Most Community members have not heard much about what eBay does behind the scenes to pursue, apprehend and prosecute fraudsters on ebay.com and paypal.com. The purpose of the Police Blotter is to share information with the Community about our efforts with law enforcement around the world. As you know, eBay Inc. is committed to creating a safe, well lit marketplace. When people break our policies, violate consumer trust and the law of the land, eBay and PayPal work with law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend and prosecute fraudsters. For that reason, eBay created the Global Law Enforcement Operations team.
The cases below do not reflect all of our success stories. The cases have been chosen to provide you with examples of various cases where we have assisted law enforcement in convicting a fraudster. Please visit us again as we will update the Police Blotter every 6 weeks.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Guilty Plea in ID Theft Scam
|
|
|
|
In August, 2008, Las Vegas resident Tyson Baird was convicted of ID Theft and has been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and ordered to pay almost $371,000 in restitution. In December, 2006, agents searched Baird's house in Las Vegas and recovered evidence of Mr. Baird hijacking multiple Yahoo email accounts and PayPal accounts. The investigation revealed that Baird was using false identities and fraudulent credit/debit cards for medical treatment, to purchase real estate, to secure a mortgage and to make his house payments. Baird also used false identities and fraudulent credit/debit cards to obtain computer equipment from Sony and to rent expensive rental cars from Hertz. Baird's actions resulted in a loss to American Express of approximately $295,310; to PayPal of approximately $57,809; and to Hertz of approximately $17,700. This case was escalated by the eBay/PayPal Fraud Investigations Team to the FBI after suspicious behavior was detected by PayPal's fraud team. Mr. Baird pleaded guilty in April, 2008 to charges including identity fraud, credit or debit card fraud, unlawful possession of equipment used to produce false identification documents and unlawful possession of 15 or more access devices.
|
|
|
|
Car Thief Sentenced to Prison
|
|
|
|
John Townson, who was involved in selling stolen cars worth $80,000 on eBay, has been jailed for 18 months. The offences, which occurred in Lancashire, England, happened three years ago and the Crown Prosecution Service revived the case against Mr. Townson again last year. The thefts all took place in July 2005 and involved two Mini Coopers, an Audi A3, a Toyota Landcruiser and a Nissan Navarro. They had all been stolen by burglars using a hook and cane technique to get the car keys from the owners homes. Within days, Townson had advertised them for sale on eBay and they were sold using false documentation and sometimes false license plates. The eBay/PayPal Fraud Investigations team began working with law enforcement on this case in July of 2006. |
|
|
|
|
Tesco Security Guard Guilty of Theft and Money Laundering
|
|
|
|
Graham Rothery, a Tesco security guard, recently confessed to stealing thousands of dollars worth of electrical goods from the Carlisle, England store and selling them on eBay. He then used PayPal to receive payment for the stolen goods. Graham Rothery, of Carlisle, admitted to 12 charges of stealing from his employer and two charges of selling the items for cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The items, including digital cameras, iPods and mobile phones, were worth a total of $14,000 and were stolen from the store between August 2006 and June 2007. On October 12th, at Carlisle Crown Court, Mr. Rothery pleaded guilty to 12 counts of theft from his employer and 3 counts of money laundering offences. He was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, and ordered to complete 120 hours of community service. The eBay/PayPal Fraud Investigations Team worked with Cumbria Constabulary on an ongoing basis from June through December, 2007.
|
|
|
|
Baggage Screener Sentenced to Prison for Theft |
|
|
|
Pythias Brown, a baggage screener at Newark Liberty Airport, faces up to 10 years in prison for allegedly stealing more than 100 items out of passengers' luggage. Mr. Brown was charged with theft when he stole high-dollar electronics from checked bags. His crime was detected when he stole a $47,900 camera from an HBO crew member and a high-end camcorder from a CNN employee, and then listed the items for sale on eBay. Investigators used undercover accounts to bid on suspected stolen items which were identified when the property was searched. Among the items seized were 66 cameras, 31 laptop computers, 20 cell phones, 17 sets of electronic games, 13 pieces of jewelry, 12 GPS devices, 11 MP3 players, eight camera lenses, six video cameras and two DVD players. He confessed to the thefts at the time the warrant was served and Mr. Brown is currently on $100,000 bail.
|
|
|
|
Safety
Tip of the Month
:
One of the simplest and most important things you can do to protect yourself is to upgrade your browser to one with anti-phishing features – like Internet Explorer 7. It will take just a few minutes and you’ll be protected with the most up-to-date security available.
|
|
|
|
