A Hemsby pensioner has lost a chunk of his savings after believing he was spending it on a motor home advertised on the ebay internet auction site.The 76-year-old is mortified he was drawn in by the deception and has been unable to tell his family because he feels such a fool, a friend said.

A Hemsby pensioner has lost a chunk of his savings after believing he was spending it on a motor home advertised on the ebay internet auction site.

The 76-year-old is mortified he was drawn in by the deception and has been unable to tell his family because he feels such a fool, a friend said.

The man, who is described as “normally level headed” was persuaded to part with �2,900 by the seller who said she was based in Wales and sounded genuine, even supplying letters apparently from ebay endorsing her reputation.

Having sent the cash by money gram from the post office numerous emails followed from the seller saying she could not collect it, although it was later discovered that she had.

The friend said: “The gentleman has lost his savings to an unscrupulous con artist. It makes my blood boil to think that there are people out there who get pleasure from other people's misfortunes.”

She added the man was keen to warn other people not to fall into the same trap.

A spokesman for Norfolk police said they were aware of the incident but the protocol with ebay fraud was to hand the investigation over to the force local to the offender - in this case south Wales. “Our advice would be not to go outside the normal procedures,” she added.

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