'eBay hunted me for £400 after my account was hacked' (From Essex County Standard)

'eBay hunted me for £400 after my account was hacked'

9:00am Friday 7th September 2012 in News

 

A WOMAN'S row with internet giants eBay ended when debt collectors knocked on her door demanding £400.

In May, Sandra Plitt, 60, had her online auction account hacked and a Sony LCD TV, worth £1,500 and an iPhone, worth £500, were sold using her username.

When eBay received notice the items had been ‘sold’, it demanded £400 in service fees from Mrs Plitt.

Even when she told the company it was not her who sold the goods, she was still pursued for more than three months for payment.

“I couldn’t quite believe it when I received the first request for payment,” said Mrs Plitt, who is unemployed, from Alport Avenue, in Shrub End.

“Asking me for £400, well that’s like £4,000 to me.”

She added: “I’ve had an account with eBay for about ten years and I’ve never had any problems but this has completely changed things.

“I only used it for things I was buying for £5 and £10, that’s why they should have known it wasn’t me - my PayPal account has never had more than £10 in.

The issue came to a head when debt collectors demanded immediate payment last week.

The online auction site has now apologised to Mrs Plitt and offered to credit her account to the full amount.

But she said she will not use the site again: “I’m too scared to use it again in case this might happen. It’s put me right off.

An eBay spokesman said: “I understand there was a concern about the collection agency’s efforts on Mrs Plitt’s account.

“On reviewing our database, I can confirm the account was sent to the collection agency due to the outstanding balance.

“We have informed Mrs Plitt the collection agency will stop collection efforts on her account.”