A dad has lost thousands of pounds after falling victim to a scam while trying to buy a caravan online.
Paul Simms wanted to get the mobile home so he could take his 10-year-old daughter, who is autistic, on holidays in Anglesey.
The St Helens man paid £9,200 for the vehicle on eBay, only to be scammed out of the money, Liverpool Echo reported.
After the transaction went through the seller messaged the family on March 22 last year.
They wrote: "I'm feeling ashamed, unfortunately, delivery must be delayed for tomorrow morning due to some technical problems on the cargo trailer and with all what's going on with coronavirus and restrictions.
"There is nothing wrong with the caravan don't worry, just the trailer with which the caravan is being delivered is having problems.
"I'm sorry for this and I know it may be frustrating that is why I was thinking of two options.
"1. If you still want to continue with delivery I will pay you back a £200 bonus for the unpleasant delay or,
"2. I can ask eBay to cancel the transaction and you will get a full refund. I understand if you wish to cancel but please understand the situation."
Paul, 45, decided to go through with the order.
"We went ahead with the order because we wanted a caravan for my daughter," he said.
"But once it did not turn up on time we knew something was very wrong.
"We went to eBay but they said they could not help. We have also been to a number of different bodies but it seems nobody can help us.
"What annoys us that the transaction took place on eBay and we paid the money through eBay. "
eBay said that they had now 'taken action' against the account which was used by the seller.
A spokesperson for eBay said: “We’re very sorry to hear Mr Simms appears to have been the victim of a scam. We have investigated this seller and taken action on the account.
“We take our responsibility to protect users very seriously, and invest heavily in teams dedicated to fraud prevention who provide evidence to law enforcement agencies to help tackle criminal behaviour.
“When buying a vehicle, users should view the item in person before making any payments, and not take the transaction off the eBay platform.
“Anyone who is concerned they have been a victim of fraud should get in touch with eBay customer services immediately and report the incident to Action Fraud.”
