Glasgow OAP defrauded by man claiming to be from HSBC

Kinloch Lawyers represented a court case where a man was helping fraudsters con an elderly woman out of nearly £9000.

Kinloch Lawyers Involved in the case

Man on Trial must "take the consequences consequence" for his actions

The man was part of a scheme that saw 78-year-old female victim being scammed out of £8900.

Man Pretending to be from HSBC Bank

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how an unknown male called the 78-year-old woman in August 2016 and pretended to be from HSBC's fraud department.

Victims Money Used to buy Foreign Currency

Scammers made two withdrawals from Elderly Woman's Bank Account.

The woman gave out her telephone banking security information and the scammers took £6000 from her account then £2900 the next day. Police then discovered some of the money had been used to buy foreign currency. Meanwhile the 27-year-old man had given his bank details to two unknown men so they could transfer the cash to his account. The young man from Cadder, pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to acquiring and possessing criminal property and two charges of converting criminal property.

Prosecutor Brogan said: “The man was able to reset the elderly lady's telephone banking and access her telephone banking account. He accessed her account and transferred £6000 and the next day he transferred £2900.

When the elderly lady contacted HSBC two days later to reset her security questions she discovered the two cash transfers. Staff contacted the action fraud team who reported the incident to Police Scotland who checked out the beneficiary account which showed that the account holder was the 27yr old male.

A warrant was granted for his banking records and it was found that £8900 had been transferred from the elderly victims account to the fraudsters own account.

There was a transfer of £1613.97 to Thomson Holidays to convert money into foreign currency. Also various other withdrawals were made of £500 from two ATMs totalling £3000.

Sheriff Allan Findlay asked if the victim had been compensated for the loss and the fraudsters defence brief told the court she had been repaid in full by the bank. Grateful for the banks intervention in the case this was still a very stressful situation for the elderly victim.

The 27yr old at the centre of this case had been approached by two individuals and offered the chance to be involved in this scheme and gave them his bank account details. The court heard he had previously served a 15month sentence for attempted robbery and assault, which "opened his eyes". The period in custody was an eye opener for him, a game changer, and he has turned his life around. The lawyer also told the court his client had suffered a serious assault in 2020 that had left him with mental health struggles.

Sheriff Findlay expressed to the 27yr old that: "These people cannot operate without guys like you and you therefore take the consequences."

The 27yr old was tagged for seven months, reduced from nine months thanks to his early guilty plea. He will have to stay in his home from 7pm to 7am.

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