A fraduster who hijacked the accounts of 70 online Next customers to go on a £35,000 shopping spree has been jailed for 12 months. 

Wayne Eifert used 19 of the 70 accounts to order clothes and jewellery which he then collected from numerous stores across London between August 2013 and November. 

Some of the other accounts were used to order goods but Next became suspicious and cancelled the orders.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police's cyber crime and fraud team, FALCON, began investigating after Next alerted the police.

The 39 year-old was arrested at his address in Napa Close, Newham, on November after he returned home from a trip to Ilford where he had collected £600 worth of childrens clothes and trainers. 

During a search of his home, detectives found around 50 Next products including men and women's clothing, handbags, homeware and bedware.

They also seized a laptop which contained evidence of the orders having been made.

EEifert pleaded guilty to fraud and possession of articles for use in fraud at Snaresbrook Crown Court on June 1 and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on July 13. 

Investigating officer, detective constable Ian Moody, of FALCON, said: "This case is an example of how FALCON is working with businesses to catch cyber fraudsters.

"Next identified that suspicious orders were being made via their website and alerted us.

"They assisted us with our investigation and, as a result, we arrested Eifert who, I believe, would have continued defrauding the company for as long as he could."

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Eifert collecting an order at a Next store in Dartford, Kent