Shill Bidding - covered under the UK Fraud Act

CountessA

Administrator
Knight of the RT
Posts: 35160

Shill Bidding - covered under the UK Fraud Act

« on: March 23, 2010, 10:04:32 AM »

It can now be confirmed that, certainly in the UK, shill bidding on one's own eBay items in order to increase the price is prosecutable under the Fraud Act.

I refer you to http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/5076044.Nationwide_Ebay_empire_of_dodgy_goods_ran_from_Rowley_Regis/

Quote

Jason Messenger pleaded guilty to nine counts of possessing goods with a false trade mark for sale and two counts of fraud. He also admitted falsely bidding on his own items to drive up the price – known as "shill bidding" or "shilling" on eBay – and was prosecuted under the Fraud Act.

Logged

"No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is ...a part of the maine; ...any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde"

tellomon

Knight of the RT
Posts: 53034
You don't get everything you want at Tello's.

Re: Shill Bidding - covered under the UK Fraud Act

« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2010, 01:35:33 PM »

"NAILED!" *SNIPE*

Logged

"The B@zturd Love Child of Comix & a News Organization"

Yibida

Action Group
Knight of the RT
Posts: 17998

Re: Shill Bidding - covered under the UK Fraud Act

« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2010, 02:15:35 PM »

Quote from: tellomon on March 23, 2010, 01:35:33 PM

"NAILED!" *SNIPE*

" and SNAILED!"

Logged

Philip.Cohen

Knight of the RT
Posts: 350

Re: Shill Bidding - covered under the UK Fraud Act

« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2010, 03:52:12 PM »

Of course “shill” bidding (ie, undisclosed vendor bidding) is fraud, and it always has been fraud!

Seriously, how can anyone think that the making of a false representation for the purpose of gaining an advantage can be anything but fraud? Even under the common law such activity would be fraud. The relatively new UK Fraud Act 2006 simply makes clearer what admittedly was so absurdly ambiguous in the old Sale of Goods Act.

The problem, however, will always be the proving of shill bidding without the cooperation of the auctioneer, when unscrupulous organizations such as eBay benefit from such criminal activity and do effectively nothing proactively to stop it.

A Summary of Statute Law on (Shill Bidding) Fraud: US, UK, AU, at
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=24316

Logged

“Today we’re dealing with phase two or phase three [he can’t even remember which one] of disruptive innovation. We’ve had the disruption, now we must disrupt our own disruption.”—John Donahoe (2007).

ernest_price

Guest

Re: Shill Bidding - covered under the UK Fraud Act

« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2010, 11:41:55 AM »

After the last few days UK shilling issues there may be a little less of it going on in Australia this week. Reading the quotes from the UK case the guy really had no idea. The quote from eBay that they have 'taken action' over the last year or so to remove the shill risk was quite amusing - considering removing bidder names has probably driven such an increase anyway!

Logged