A scammer has been jailed for 18 months after an elderly East Kilbride couple were duped out of £24,000.
Hamilton Sheriff Court heard the man aged 73 and his 82-year-old wife transferred cash to crooks after being warned that a rogue banker had targeted their bank accounts.
Paul McEnhill, 28, of Balla Place, Newton Mearns, admitted that, while acting with unknown accomplices, he took part in a fraudulent scheme between October 5 and 7, 2022.
Carla McGuire, prosecuting, said the elderly man was phoned by a male with an English accent who claimed to be a senior CID officer called Malcolm. He said £5,000 had been stolen from the OAP’s account by a bank employee.
The caller said he would try to retrieve the money but required the pensioner to transfer cash first.
The account given for the transfer belonged to McEnhill’s then partner.
The pensioner was suspicious but was given another number to call for reassurance. He called that number and was told that ‘Malcolm’ was “the head of Virgin Money CID”.
The man was told that money had also been stolen from the account of his wife who suffered poor health.
Subsequently, a number of cash transfers involving four-figure sums were made to accounts belonging to McEnhill and his girlfriend.
Ms McGuire told the court: “The elderly man was told that, if a teller questioned him about the transfers, he should say the money was for his grandson and grand daughter.
“At one stage bank staff recognised him and refused to allow a transfer, believing it odd that there should be such large transactions in quick succession.”
Police were called in. They discovered that, along with the transfers, sums of money had been taken from the elderly man’s account after he’d given the caller his 16-digit card number.
The fiscal said £9,500 was retrieved and refunded to the couple. However, the rest of the cash has not been recovered.
Sheriff John Speir told McEnhill: “You have pleaded guilty to what many view as a predatory financial crime on people who are vulnerable because of their age.
“Given their age this must have been a very disturbing experience for them.”
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