Fraudster conned OAPS out of £630k

Police swooped after rumbling phone scam

A relentless fraudster conned pensioners out of £630,000 by tricking them into transferring money into a so-called ‘safe account’. Mohammed Rafiq, 34, was eventually caught after detectives were alerted to a Canterbury scam targeted at raking in £12,100 from an elderly woman. During a nine-month period from October 2018 to June last year, Rafiq defrauded 33 victims across the country of £630,000. The Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate latched onto Rafiq’s crimes after a Canterbury pensioner received a telephone call from someone claiming to be a fraud investigator. She was instructed to transfer £6,500 into a ‘safe account’ because her own account had been compromised by criminals. She was told not to tell anyone at the bank why she was transferring the money, and after returning home she received a second call asking her to send a further £5,600.

A brazen associate of Rafiq had used his mobile phone to book a taxi to the bank for the victim, and officers were able to trace the number. They arrested Rafiq and an accomplice at an address in Glasgow.

They were both charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. After originally denying any wrongdoing, they entered guilty pleas at the start of their trial. Rafiq, of Grantholm Avenue, Motherwell, was jailed for threeand-a-half years at Maidstone Crown Court.

Police described Rafiq and his accomplices as “relentless in their efforts to trick as many victims as possible”.

Mohammed Rafiq has been jailed