A man who ripped off more than 200 people via the classified advertising website marktplaats.nl has been jailed for three years, one year suspended, by a court in Middelburg.

The man offered tickets to events and amusement parks for sale using fake names. Once his victims had paid for the tickets and they had agreed how to hand over the goods, the man stopped all contact.

He also traded using the names of people he had ripped off, the court was told.

In total, the man managed to con his victims out of €130,000 over a two-year period. Although he was found guilty of 206 cases, the real total may have been as high as 700, the public prosecution department said.