Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1998/12/14/con_man_given_the_boot/

Con man given the boot by eBay

E-swindle tops bad week for online auctioneer

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 14th December 1998 12:50 GMT

A man has been barred from eBay, the electronic auction house, for allegedly swindling consumers out of anything between $30,000 and $100,000. Sonny Stemple received cash for items that he never dispatched, according to a report by Newsweek. To make matters worse, eBay has said it won't compensate those who have been ripped off. Instead, it's advising them to pursue their own legal actions against Mr Stemple. Stemple's activities are unlikely to boost the wider public's confidence in buying and selling over the Internet. It's been a bad week for eBay. Last week its software broke down twice causing its site to crash and disrupting thousands of bids.®