Category Archives: Online Fraud Detection

Mail Online brings a story from Down Under, with complete relevance to us Poms, as it reports that, in Australia, nearly a third of all items are stolen over the Christmas period.

Thieves target stores for new-release goods or to impress friends whilst entertaining, with shoplifting professionals taking advantage of crowded, busy shops and selling stolen goods online.

The Bristol Live website reports that twin sisters were persuaded to sell stolen goods online in order to fund drug addicts, raking in around £300,000 over a five year period.

Lillian Bowers’ son initially started to get his mum to sell stolen items to fund his drug addiction, and soon enlisted the help of her sister Helen Thomas.

Wales Online reports that an eagle-eyed boss tracked down missing stock items worth £14,000 after turning detective and monitoring eBay for rogue listings.

After three electrical calibrator devices were stolen from a workshop at Baglan power station, a manager trawled listings on eBay looking for the items.

The Carlisle News & Star reported that a man stole specialist equipment whilst working at the Sellafield nuclear plant and sold it on eBay.

Nicholas Hanna – employed as an instrument mechanic – stole two pressure calibrators potentially worth almost £20,000 and then duped a friend into letting him use an eBay account to sell the items.

Kent Online reports that a gambling addict stole car parts from his employer and sold them on eBay during a period of nearly five years, netting over £80,000 in the process.

Robin Lambkin even organised a courier to pick up larger parts from Gefco auto body shop in Sheerness, Kent, whilst taking smaller items in his own rucksack.

The Express reports that an airport worker stole £15,000 worth of jewellery from British Airways over four years, selling the booty on eBay.

Michal Harazinski – jailed for a year – was employed by Gate Gourmet, which is contracted by the airline, and was responsible for loading and unloading boxes off BA flights.