A man described once as the "Internet's John Dillinger" has been sentenced to six-and-a half years in a U.S. federal prison for scamming 1,700 people.

Jay Nelson scammed victims on Yahoo and eBay offering electronic items for sale. He would accept payment and never deliver the goods. Nelson was good at using a web of false names to confuse buyers into believing he was a reputable seller.

The U.S. attorney's office says Nelson's case was one of the largest Internet auction fraud investigations conducted by the Postal Inspection Service.

U.S. Postal Inspector Tom Higgins called him "The Internet's John Dillinger" — a reference to the notorious 1930's bank robber who once topped the U.S. most wanted list.

"It's a lengthy sentence which reflects the seriousness of this kind of activity," said U.S. Attorney Michael Gunnison.

"This investigation shows the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other agencies can, in fact, track down and bring these scam artists to justice."

Auction fraud accounts for almost two-thirds of all Internet complaints to the U.S. government fraud centre.

The longest jail term for Internet auction fraud was 12 years for a Virginia man convicted last year of bilking $100,000 out of 268 victims.