by Keith Hunt

An Ebay fraudster jailed in 2008 for hacking into email accounts is back behind bars - for doing it again.

Joe Rothfarb was said to be under financial pressures when he hijacked an account in the name of Kate Darlington.

He bought a Nintendo Wii and games being advertised on Ebay by Anthony Matcham for £449.99 in April last year.

Rothfarb appeared for sentence at Canterbury Crown Court having admitted fraud when he used Ms Darlington's account and securing unauthorised access to computer material with intent.

He was jailed for 15 months.

Prosecutor Andrew Collings said the offences were committed not long after his release from a 30 months sentence from the same court.

Then, he admitted unauthorised modification of computer material and deception by hacking into various accounts and obtaining just over £13,000.

Mr Matcham discovered he'd been duped when he checked his PayPal account to check the money had been transfered to his own account.

He had arranged with a man who called him about buying the Wii, that the caller's cousin would collect the goods and he met Rothfarb at Ramsgate station and handed the items over believing the money was in his account.

When he checked his computer the following morning he found PayPal had put a hold on the money suspecting it was a fraudulent transaction as it was an unconfirmed emailing address and the account was in the name of Kate Darlington.

She was refunded but Mr Matcham was out of pocket because PayPal would not reimburse him as he had let the items go before confirming the transaction.

He called the police who discovered Ms Darlington's Ebay and PayPal accounts had been taken over by a third party to buy goods and passwords changed.

It did not take the police long to get back to Rothfarb at Queens Road, Canterbury.

He was arrested and made full admissions saying he was under immense pressure because of a car loan he could not pay back and a £7,000 debt to his mother.

He got an email address from a website and used his expertise to get onto that address to get into a PayPal account by guessing a password or using security questions to gain access to the account which he then used in someone else's name.

As well as the 2008 offence, Rothfarb, 24, of Ranelagh Road, Sheerness had a conviction from 2007 for using online bank faciltites to obtain an Xbox console and games.

Philip Rowley, for Rothfarb, said he realised the court would be considering custody not least because of convictions for similar offences and the latest offences being committed soon after release from prison.

A psychiatric report had disclosed Rothfarb suffered from an emotionally unstable personality disorder and it was possible he would benefit from some psychiatric treatment.

Mr Rowley asked the court to consider an alternative to custody saying it was the first time there was an assessment of his psychiatric state and although there was no mental illness it gave insight into his background and life.

At the time he was living with his partner and five children and there were substantial financial pressures when he succumbed to temptation. He was now living on Sheppey

and complying with his licence. "He has moved forward and his life is beginning to stabilise," said Mr Rowley.

He asked the court to consider whether there would be genuine benefit from imposing a suspended sentence so Rothfarb could undertake work suggested and treatment.

"This could address his problems and reduce the risk of further offending," said Mr Rowley.

Jailing Rothfarb, Judge James O'Mahony said: "This was a sophisticated fraud, particularly serious because the integrity of transactions carried out on the internet is very important because honest decent people trust that proceedure for transactions being carried out and if that cannot be followed it will take away something people use and enjoy to a significant extent.

"You are a persistent operator of sophisticated fraud as far as this is concerned, you have done it again and again and it is rightly concluded you are of high risk as far as this kind of offending is concerned," said Judge O'Mahony.

He added: "I wish I could order compensation to Mr Matchem who has suffered.

"He trusted this system of buying and selling, he did not know what he was dealing with."