IT is one of the biggest internet shopping sites in the world and today we can reveal how one York woman turned to eBay to fleece hundreds of customers for thousands of pounds.

The so-called "eBay trader" netted £27,000 by conning online shoppers into buying fake designer clothes and handbags, York magistrates heard.

Customers complained about the quality of Susan Siadatan's stock and one of her suppliers warned her not to use brand names, said Matt Boxall, prosecuting for City of York Council.

But the 44-year-old seller continued to ply her trade through the internet auction site until her home in Wigginton was raided and a large stash of counterfeit goods was discovered.

Siadatan pleaded guilty to four offences of offering pirated goods for sale and asked for 370 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

Woman sold bootleg goods on eBay

AN eBay trader netted £27,000 by duping internet shoppers into buying fake designer clothes and handbags, York magistrates heard.

Customers complained about the quality of Susan Joyce Siadatan's stock, and one of her suppliers warned her not to use brand names, said Matt Boxall, prosecuting for City of York Council.

But the 44-year-old pirated goods seller continued to ply her trade through the internet auction site eBay until trading standards officers raided her home last March and discovered a large stash of counterfeit goods.

"This demonstrates she knew she was dealing in copied goods," said Mr Boxall. "One of her suppliers had told her and several of her customers as well."

Siadatan, 44, of Helmsley Grove, Wigginton, York, pleaded guilty to four offences of offering pirated goods for sale and asked for 370 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

Magistrates decided that the case was too serious for them to handle and committed her for sentence to York Crown Court, where the prosecution will seek to confiscate her assets on the grounds that she was leading a criminal lifestyle.

She shook throughout the brief hearing at York Magistrates Court and was released on unconditional bail.

Her solicitor, Philip Crowe, said she was "very ill".

Mr Boxall said that trading standards officers made a test purchase of a fleece jacket from Siadatan on February 13. It subsequently proved to be fake.

They raided her home on March 21 and found 374 pirated items of designer clothes including swimwear and handbags worth many thousands of pounds. Checks through eBay revealed that she had completed internet sales worth £27,000.

"The benefits to her were already in excess of £30,000, say the prosecution," said Mr Boxall.

"This figure may rise during the course of the confiscation hearings."

Siadatan's computer, which was seized during the raid, contained several negative eBay feedback comments from customers complaining that her goods were counterfeit.

She had also received an email in January from a supplier in China warning her not to use brand names when dealing with PayPal, a common pay method for eBay shoppers, as that could lead to PayPal restrictions for both her and the supplier.

Siadatan denied to trading standards officers that she knew her goods were counterfeit and said she relied on the fact that most of her customers' feedback comments were good.

Mr Crowe said she had co-operated with the council throughout.