Crimes of the week

An Army sergeant from Tidworth who was reduced to the ranks after selling an officer's Iraq War medal on eBay, has won his appeal against the punishment, despite a top judge voicing fears the issuing of medals for bravery had been "devalued" by the debacle.

A "greedy" insurance company worker who stole promotional vouchers from her employers for sale on the eBay internet site has escaped being sent to prison.

The software industry has claimed a victory against piracy after two men who sold pirate versions of Symantec products using eBay were forced to pay $100,000 (£52,000) in damages.

Leanne Mitchell, 22, logged on to her computer to find her eBay account details had been changed. She was stunned to find someone had used her account to make bids and had racked up £37,000 on electrical goods to be sent to Nigeria. Not great reporting on this one: the headline reads "EBAY CROOKS STUNG ME IN £37,000 SCAM", when of course Ms. Mitchell hasn't lost any money herself, nor was she ever likely to have to pay out for what the crooks had ordered. If you suspect that your eBay account has been hacked or stolen, this is what you need to do. And if someone asks you to send electrical goods to Nigeria, this is the appropriate response.