Saturday, 14 October 2023

Dating Site Fraudster Sentenced For Gold Trading Scam

A cruel conman swindled three women he met on a dating website out of £20,000 by promising membership of an exclusive gold trading club.

The victims agreed to meet 44 year-old Khalid Mahmood at various train stations, where he continued to pressure them into handing over the money.

The elaborate scam involved building up trust and convincing the victims he needed official passport-sized photos and fleeing when they were in the booths having their picture taken.

British Transport Police (BTP) investigated and Mahmood was ordered to pay £20,000 compensation to the victims while also completing 200 hours community service work.

He was also sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years and must complete a 35-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

At Inner London Crown Court Mahmood, of Vicarage Crescent, Redditch pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of theft.

The first woman agreed to meet him outside King's Cross station in March, 2020 when he offered her exclusive membership to a gold trading club if she handed over £6,000. 

Once he had the cash he told the woman she would need a passport photograph and guided her to a photo booth in the station, while he offered to complete the online forms on her behalf on her phone.

When the woman emerged from the booth Mahmood was gone, along with her cash and phone which also contained her credit card - he used this to withdraw a further £200.

In November the same year Mahmood set up a meeting with his second victim, who he had first engaged with on the same website at Manchester Piccadilly station, where he offered her the same exclusive membership.

After pressurising her into the deal she later agreed to the transaction, meeting him for a second time at Euston station to hand over the cash.

Mahmood's plan was temporarily foiled when he could not locate a photo booth, instead sending the victim into a shop to enquire while he made off with her £7,000 cash.

On the third occasion, in July 2021, he travelled to Oxford to meet his victim, who he had also initially met on the dating website.

During this meeting he attempted to convince the woman to take up his offer of membership. 

Despite her telling him she wasn't interested and had no money he called her later the same day to tell her he had already signed her up and would pay half the membership fee leaving her to find the remaining £4000.

Having borrowed the cash from her mother she met Mahmood at Victoria station, where he made her withdraw an additional £300. 

He then told her he would complete the online form on her phone while she looked for a photo booth. 

When she returned Mahmood had left the station with her phone and cash.

Mahmood was arrested by British Transport Police in April, last year by officers waiting at Gatwick airport to meet him from a flight from Pakistan.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Jennifer Brown said: "Mahmood conned these women by building up their trust online and in phone calls before setting up the meeting and offering a too good to be true deal.

"Mahmood snared the women, none of whom could afford to lose the cash he stole from them, by promising potential riches from his connections to the gold trading market.

"Once we had Mahmood in our sights it was only a matter of time before he was brought to justice. 

Criminality of any kind will not be tolerated and we continue to work to deter those who operate criminal enterprises using the rail network."

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