Online Fraud and cheatings how common?

LONDON - AN INTERNATIONAL network of criminals duped eBay customers into paying millions of pounds for counterfeit golf clubs in the largest fraud of its kind, British media reported on Wednesday.

The prosecution told a London court on Tuesday that the four-year scam had been of a 'truly global nature', and eBay called it the 'single largest counterfeiting conspiracy yet uncovered' on their website, the Times newspaper said.

Prosecutor Adam Davies said that 'large sums' were continually being transferred between accounts held by Bellchambers in Britain and Thailand. A sum of 73,000 (S$170,000) was transferred to one of the accounts in a month, he added.

'Nearly every major golf brand has been affected by the sale of counterfeit goods through the eBay accounts. It is the belief of the fraud investigation unit at eBay that this case represents the single largest counterfeiting conspiracy yet uncovered on their website,' he said.

From mid-2003 to early last year, the network was responsible for the sale and distribution of millions of pounds' worth of counterfeit goods both in the UK and abroad, primarily through eBay, the court was told.

'This is a conspiracy of a truly global nature. Conspirators are thought to have been based in the UK, Thailand, Australia, Germany, Singapore, the US, Hong Kong, China - and goods have been distributed from, or to, all those countries and more,' Mr Davies said.

The court heard that the downfall of the 'counterfeiting empire' had been triggered by a pensioner, Ms Christine Manz. She had bought clubs from Bellchambers but, unhappy with their quality, she asked for a refund.

Her letters to Bellchambers went unanswered as he was abroad at the time. Ms Manz then turned to the trading standards office in east London. Her complaint sparked an investigation, which led to raids at a string of addresses and the recovery of a 'large quantity' of fake clubs.

On Tuesday, the court was told that Bellchambers and two others had admitted to conspiring to sell or distribute golf clubs, clothing and accessories, bearing signs identical to, or likely to be mistaken for, registered trademarks. Bellchambers also admitted to two offences of unauthorised use of trademarks. The trial is expected to last three months.