eBay XBox One scam: Dad pays £450 for a picture of the console

80m xboxes have been sold worldwide and 38m Xbox Ones will be sold by the end of 2017, according to analysts IHS (Press image)

A father from Nottingham said he was "fuming" after forking out £450 online for a brand new Xbox One console, only to be sent a picture of the console in the post.

Peter Clatworthy, 19, bought the limited edition "Day One" version of the console on eBay for his four-year-old son. The item's description said it was a picture of the Xbox, but his doubts were assuaged by its listing under video games.

He told the Nottingham Post: "It said 'photo' and I was in two minds, but I looked at the description and the fact it was in the right category made me think it was genuine.

"I looked at the seller's feedback and there was nothing negative. I bought it there and then because I thought it was a good deal.

"It's obvious now I've been conned out of my money."

The Xbox One launched in the UK on 22 November, in a high-profile sales war with Sony's PlayStation 4. The PlayStation won the battle, shifting 250,000 units in its first 48 hours on sale, compared to XBox's 150,000.

Mr Clatworthy was also unimpressed by a message the seller wrote on the letter accompanying his very expensive picture.

"They'd written on the back of it 'thank you for your purchase'," he said. "I was fuming."

Yesterday eBay told Mr Clatworthy that he can expect a full refund from the seller by Monday.

An eBay spokesman said: "We don't allow listings which mislead, and will take action against this seller.

"Customers can shop with confidence on eBay as we guarantee you will get your item or your money back. Mr Clatworthy is covered by the eBay money-back guarantee and we will be contacting him to put things right."