An Israeli citizen whose visa has expired, Haim faces charges on eight counts of mail fraud. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. The FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Attorney's Office worked together in investigating both cases. The Los Angeles Police Department Computer Crimes Unit is also involved in the Haim investigation. Although the amounts involved in the cases are not large, the government is concerned that cases such as these could dissuade consumers from using e-commerce, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley.
Online fraud is a growing problem for enforcement officials and e-commerce companies alike.
Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission reported that complaints regarding online auction transactions had jumped from little more than 100 in 1997 to 11,000 last year. As the leading online auction company, eBay has been at the center of the storm. In April, for instance, a group of sports collectors sued eBay, charging that the auction giant knew about auctions of fake sports memorabilia but did little to stop them. Federal authorities contacted eBay about Cruz in October of last year, eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said. The San Jose, Calif.-based online auction company suspended Cruz's account and cooperated with the federal investigation, turning over Cruz's trading history to authorities, Pursglove said.