A PENSIONER has taken on online shopping giant eBay and won.

Len Davies, 75, of Windmill Lane, Cockermouth, unknowingly became the victim of identity theft in March.

He had no idea that someone had falsely used his identity to set up an account with eBay, until a debt recovery company contacted him and asked him to pay an outstanding amount of £151.87 from his account.

Len has never had an eBay account and has been fighting to clear his name of the debt for months.

He contacted the Daily Mail’s Tony Hetherington column, and explained that he was the victim of identity theft. He said that the paper contacted eBay on his behalf.

Then he heard from eBay’s investigation team who told him they were now quite satisfied that it was not him that had run up the debt.

Len said his main concern "is that identify theft in itself is not a reportable crime. If you weren’t actually defrauded it isn’t a crime”.

He said that he is now pressing for a change in the law, so that identity theft can become a reportable crime.

He added that Allerdale borough and Cockermouth town councillor Alan Smith has offered to fight alongside him to try and get the law changed.

Len’s case has attracted the attention of BBC One’s consumer advice programme Rip Off Britain, which has recently contacted him with a view to possibly appearing on the show to discuss identity theft.

He said: “I’m trying to gather muscle to approach the Home Office for a change to the law and I’m quite willing to talk on camera for Rip Off Britain. I wouldn’t want other people to have to go through all this.

“Identity theft could be quite a terrifying experience for a vulnerable person.”

An eBay spokesman had previously said: “We invest heavily in measures to protect our users from privacy and security threats, including investment in teams dedicated to safety, customer service and law enforcement liaison.

"From enabling two-step verification to regularly changing your password, we encourage all members to take precautions that will improve the level of security protection on their accounts.

"We strongly advise that all eBay transactions are made directly on the eBay platform in order for buyers and sellers to be fully protected by our policies.”