A Colindale man who committed 201 incidents of internet shopping fraud valued at almost £400,000 has been jailed for four years.

Horatiu Sbughiu, of East Drive, was one of a group of four who set up false adverts and websites to con unwitting customers into handing over bank details.

The 32-year-old was sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on Friday (November 18) alongside Cristian Nicolaescu of Redbridge for conspiracy to commit internet shopping fraud and possession of a laptop for use in fraud.

Accomplices Nicolae Boieru and Alexandra Gyor, also from Redbridge, were sentenced to eight months imprisonment and 12 months unpaid work on October 24 for laundering the money gained.

The operation saw fake websites set up alongside adverts on sites like Autotrader, Gumtree and Airbnb which asked for victims’ card details.

Victims were defrauded twice as the sites then claimed a transaction had been unsuccessful and would request a direct bank transfer to a mule account, while the details given were used to make fraudulent purchases.

Most victims then never heard from the websites again.

When arrested, Sbughiu was in possession of a laptop linked to at least 201 separate incidents of internet shopping fraud valued at £387,185.29.

Nicolaescu's laptop was also linked to over £300k worth of fraud.

Classifieds website GumTree, one of the sites of the fraudulent adverts, issued a statement following the conviction to reassure customers.

An unnamed spokesperson said: "We do not tolerate the use of our site for fraudulent activity, and are committed to tackling fraud and educating people about how to avoid scams.

"While most people who use Gumtree stick to the rules, some break them and cause problems for everybody else.

"This case shows sadly there are scammers out there trying to rip people off, which is why we have safety advice on buying and selling throughout our website, ensuring this is front of mind for all those who use Gumtree.

"We also work with law enforcements to block or secure convictions and we recommend customers report any issues they encounter, so our customer service team can investigate and take action such as blocking the offender from the site."