A callous fraudster who targeted an elderly couple in a brazen £25,000 banking scam has been jailed for 18 months.
Paul McEnhill, 28, tricked Thomas Docherty, 73, and Margaret Baillie, 82, into transferring thousands of pounds.
Docherty, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, received a phone call from a man who claimed he was head of Virgin Money’s CID department.
The caller told Docherty £5,000 had been swiped from his account and to get it back he would have to make a transaction to help Virgin Money identify a rogue employee who had stolen the cash.
The hoax caller then told Docherty to go to a bank branch and transfer £4,900 and say the money was for his granddaughter.
Docherty was then told his wife’s account had been targeted and ordered to transfer a further £9,500. Bank staff became suspicious at the amount of money being moved and called in police in October 2022.
McEnhill, of Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted the fraud which saw him obtain a total of £24,140 from his victims.
Sheriff John Speir said there was no alternative to jail and blasted the ‘callous and calculated’ scheme.
Depute fiscal Carla McGuire described how McEnhill had persisted in his frauds. She said: “He told Docherty that Baillie’s account had had a further £5,000 taken from it and told Docherty he would need to access his internet banking to pay back the funds and gave Docherty a pin to access the banking which worked.
“He also asked Docherty for his 16 digit card number and told Docherty that Baillie would have to go to the bank again but he was reluctant due to her poor health but the caller was insistent that she would lose her money otherwise.
“They returned to the Rutherglen branch of Virgin Money with the caller remaining on the phone whilst they conducted the transaction.
“Docherty was recognised by a staff member and the transfer was refused on the basis that they were making such large transactions in short succession and the branch manager was made aware and phoned 999.”
Police successfully tracked down McEnhill after it emerged he used his own bank details for one of the transfers. The court heard £9,500 has been returned to Docherty.
Eamonn McGeehan, defending, said: “He had a massive drug debt and was invited to become involved in this scheme as a way to clear the outstanding debt.
“He did not appreciate the nature of the scheme and is embarrassed and remorseful but recognises this is a serious matter and that the custodial threshold has been met.”
Sheriff Speir said: “You engaged in a callous and calculated scheme to deprive elderly victims out of their savings, so much so that the consequences for them were the impact on their mental health and their financial situation.”
Virgin Money declined to comment.
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