Police have charged a 36-year-old man for allegedly obtaining by deception $216,200 worth of goods through online auctions. He will appear in Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts tomorrow.

The man was charged with two counts of accessing a computer with dishonest intent, one count of obtaining property by deception and of using a false instrument, and possession of a forged identity document.

He was arrested after 29 online auctioners told Police they had received bad cheques from him for electronic goods like computers, cameras and mobile phones.

The frauds from two auction websites occurred from January last year to this month.

Police arrested the man last Saturday in Mong Kok and found a forged ID card and a number of blank cheques.

Enquiries revealed the suspect used the email addresses, which he hacked from the Internet, to register online as an auction buyer. Then he used a chequebook found on the street to buy the electronic goods online.

Police warned people to be cautious when participating in online auctions, and urged anyone suspicious they have been cheated to call 2352 9375 or 2860 5012.