Five arrests in eBay car-scam investigation
POLICE have made arrests after a gang of eBay-scam car buyers armed with a gun, hammer and machete struck 12 times in Greater Manchester – and now officers have issued a new warning.
As reported in the M.E.N., a man was left with horrific injuries after he and his fiancee were targeted by the gang.
Jamie Hallam, 48 and his partner Georgina, were robbed of £9,000 in cash.
The couple travelled to Manchester from Norfolk to pick up a car they had bought on the bidding website. But they had been lured into a trap.
The couple were forced to hand over the money at gunpoint and Mr Hallam was left with a fracture to his nose, eye socket and cheekbone after being attacked by two masked men. There have been a spate of armed robberies of victims who have been targeted through false car advertisements on online auction sites.
Between Tuesday, November 19, 2019 and Wednesday, January 22, 2020, police received 12 reports of armed robberies across Manchester and Oldham relating to online auction sites.
Now four men – aged 43, 24, 22 and 19 – and a 41-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery. They all remained in custody to be interviewed by detectives.
Officers also recovered a stolen car and two machetes during the arrests, which took place in the Oldham and Newton Heath areas of Greater Manchester.
In a statement, GMP said: “The arrests are in connection with several armed robberies that are believed to have occurred between Tuesday 19 November 2019 and Wednesday 22 January 2020 following false car advertisements on the online auction website, Ebay. “
Det Insp Joseph Harrop, of GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: “Our dedicated team of detectives have been working extensively to investigate this shocking string of violent and abhorrent attacks and, while we have made five arrests, we continue to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
“It is important that the intensity of this investigation persists and therefore we continue to ask members of the public to contact police if they have any information or concerns that they have relating to armed robberies of this nature.
“I would also like to remind members of the public to remain vigilant and alert when dealing with online advertisements on auction sites and anyone with any suspicions should contact police in confidence immediately.”
Anyone with information can call police on 0161 856 4409, quoting incident number 1926 of 21/01/2020.