A man has been sentenced to five years in jail for committing a variety of scams against vulnerable victims.
The 41 year old man was caught after an investigation by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service led to the discovery that the former care worker had received a substantial amount of money into his bank account over a nine month period. This money was taken from a number of victims by using a series of advanced fee frauds.
The frauds were a combination of romance scams, offers of employment, and inheritance scams. The victims paid money into accounts believing that they were paying for various fees and flight tickets.
Left one victim bankrupt
One of his victims, an American widow, was targeted online and duped into believing that she had a multi-million dollar inheritance. As part of the fraud, she was conned into paying almost £10,000 into an account to secure the money, leaving her bankrupt.
Another victim believed that he was paying money to secure employment for his daughter in London and lost over £31,000. During the course of December 2011 to August 2012, 29 individual payments were paid into his account. These totalled over £320,000. Much of this money was taken from people who believed that they were helping people that they were having online relationships with.
Detective Superintendent Nick Downing, of the Specialist Crime and Operational Command, said: "This conviction and sentence of five years imprisonment sends a strong message to those people who believe that they can prey on the vulnerable whilst hiding in the shadows of the online world”
For further information visit the Metropolitan Police website.
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To report a fraud and receive a police crime reference number, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.
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