NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey man has been indicted in what federal prosecutors say was a scheme to defraud hundreds of sellers of foreign and antique banknotes on the online auction site eBay.
Fifty-year-old David D’Aries of Summit is charged with mail fraud. A message left for his attorney was not immediately returned Thursday.
New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney says D’Aries won approximately 400 auctions during a five year period on eBay, posing as three different individuals, including his dead father.
Prosecutors say D’Aries paid for his purchases using PayPal or a variety of credit cards, then call the credit card companies and claim he never received an item or a charge was unauthorized. Prosecutors estimate the losses to eBay, PayPal and various sellers totaling nearly $150,000.
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