AN INTERNET car-sale con has cost a local woman £3,500. The woman – one of many local victims of online fraud – never saw the Mini Cooper she thought she had bought through eBay Motors and her money ended up in Germany.

‘As far as I was concerned, it was totally legitimate, but I have been totally duped,’ said the married woman, who did not want to be named.

‘Even the police said it was a very, very good scam.’

She warns others not to make the same mistake.

After she had bid on the car a woman called her to say that she wanted a quick transaction because she had moved to Germany with her family to work. The caller gave reasons for needing a fast sale – including import duty and the need to convert the car due to emissions laws.

‘She said she would like to set this up electronically through the wire. When I asked her about PayPal, she said she did not use it because she had been conned by PayPal, which is a favourite ‘and secure’ method of payment.’

The ‘seller’ told the Guernsey woman that she was prepared to invoice the vehicle through eBay Motors’ financial department.

‘She sent a very long paper that included protection for both of us – all officially headed to the buyer from the seller – and suggested a third party would hold the money until I received the car and the money would then be forwarded.

‘I thought I was protected – it looked 100% and I thought I could not lose. I arranged for my money to be sent to Berlin. It was a total hoax.’

Subsequent attempts to contact the ‘vendor’ failed.

‘I had another email saying eBay were making changes to their system.’

The woman waited eight days, then went to the police – but by then the money transfer had gone through and it was too late.

‘I was told I had been conned. I was devastated but I have a wonderful son who has sent me 12 red roses to cheer me up.’

Her advice to islanders is: ‘People should phone up eBay support before entering into any transaction where they are asking to go outside the eBay system.’

Guernsey Police’s commercial fraud and external affairs department is warning islanders to be vigilant after several others were conned out of thousands. It is aware of four recent incidents of high-value fraud – three involving vehicles. When the money was wired, it was sent to a central European destination. But it is not only islanders losing out.

‘I would not say we are being targeted – it’s just a percentage of the general scams that are going on,’ said PC Gary Davies. ‘It’s across all sections of society.’

Police are investigating the incidents.

They advise that while auction purchases are often good value, for safety reasons it is best to use a credit card through the PayPal system on eBay. Any vendor asking to have money wired to them should be regarded as highly suspicious.

Purchasers are warned by the online auction house not pay via money transfer services, such as Western Union or MoneyGram, as these are banned on eBay because they are regarded as unsafe ways to pay for online purchases.

An eBay spokesman yesterday said: ‘We discourage users from taking transactions off the site, as is the case in this instance, as users who do so are no longer protected by the safety measures available on eBay.co.uk.

‘Maintaining a secure site for buyers and sellers is our first priority. We work to educate our users about the risks from spoof and phishing emails. If anyone is in doubt about an email or website, they can report it to spoof@ebay.com and we’ll tell them if it’s genuine or not.’