Facebook Market Place scam: Rotorua man alludes to more victims

Dylan Jason Ingram appearing in the Rotorua District Court via audio visual link. Photo / Andrew Warner

A man who used fake Facebook profiles to rip off buyers on Facebook Market Place has alluded to more offending but his victims haven't come forward to police.

Dylan Jason Ingram, 24, appeared in the Rotorua District Court this week by audio visual link and pleaded guilty to 10 charges of accessing a computer for dishonest purposes.

A police summary of facts released to the Rotorua Daily Post said Ingram made up fake accounts on Facebook and posted items for sale, asked for deposits to be paid into his partner's bank account but never delivered the items to the buyers.

The summary said Ingram was in a relationship with a woman who was a witness in the case.

The pair use the same bank accounts, although they were listed under her surname.

The offending occurred in October and November last year and included him making a fake profile under the names Chris, Dillon Ingram, Kya Harrison, Dillz and Positive Sheridanne.

On separate occasions, he listed items including two iPhone 6s, two fridges, a Huawei Y5 cellphone, three Samsung Galaxy 3 and an Apple iPad.

The summary outlined whenever a buyer agreed to purchase the individual items, Ingram would arrange for either part or full payments and would tell the victims he would deliver the items at an agreed time and location.

However, on each occasion, he failed to show up and those trying to buy the items lost their money.

Ingram did this on 10 different occasions, stealing money to the value of $710 in amounts of $50, $106, $57, $65, $150, $60, $50, $65, $57 and $50.

The summary said once Ingram received the money from the buyers, he would do things such as delete the Facebook profile or block the buyers, preventing them from making contact.

On one occasion, with the buyer of a Haier fridge, he received a $60 deposit and arranged for delivery when the remaining would be paid. However, after receiving the deposit, he messaged the victim saying he had been offered more and would be refunding the victim's deposit, the summary said.

The victim chased up Ingram several times asking if his money had been refunded but he blocked him from contacting him further on Facebook.

On another occasion with the sale of a fridge, he received a $50 deposit for the agreed purchase price of $200 then messaged the victim and asked for the full amount to be transferred.

When the victim refused, Ingram took the Market Place sale post down and blocked the victim from contacting him.

The summary of facts said Ingram admitted the offending to police and eluded to more offending but the victims were yet to come to light.

The police will be seeking reparation for the victims when he is sentenced on May 20 in the Rotorua District Court via audio visual link at 10am.