A Californian teenager was sentenced to three years for defrauding users of eBay's auction services. The 19-year old, Cole Bartiromo, was ordered to pay $20,000 back to his victims and spend 33 months in prison.

The teenager pleaded guilty in February to putting items up for sale on eBay, collecting payment and not sending out the goods. He was also found guilty of bank fraud for trying to convince a Wells Fargo employee to wire $400,000 to an offshore account he had set up.

Bartiromo has previous form: as a 17-year old high school student he obtained $1m from investors who believed his claim to offer "risk-free" bets on sporting events. The Securities and Exchange Commission were less convinced and made him pay investors back $900,000. ®

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