Guilty: Brent gang in £150k stolen credit card numbers fraud
left to right: Lilanan Siton, Jermaine Morrison, Chris Barclay and Wayne Eldridge - Credit: Archant
A gang of fraudsters from Brent scammed £150,000 worth of goods from small businesses by exploiting a loophole that let them use stolen credit card numbers.
Some of the goods recovered by police - Credit: Archant
The three men and a woman exploited a loophole that allowed the goods to be delivered to a ‘drop’ address rather than the one registered with the credit card companies because the orders were made over the phone.
Wayne Eldridge, 42, of Greenhill Park, Harlesden, Jermaine Morrison, 36, of Princess Road, Lilanan Siton, 36, of Mortimer Crescent, both in Kilburn 28-year-old Chris Barclay, 28, of no fixed address, admitted carrying out the scam that targeted businesses nationwide.
Harrow Crown Court heard phone orders using the ‘customer not present’ function on credit card terminals were not protected against fraud unlike online transactions.
Detectives launched an investigation after being contacted by scammed companies and after identifying several of the gang’s drop addresses, officers carried out a test delivery at one in March 2014 where Eldridge signed for the package.
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When officers raided the address they seized a phone that linked him to other numbers used by scammers.
A year-long probe resulted in the arrest of Siton, who was caught selling items she had bought fraudulently on auction site eBay, and Morrison.
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Barclay, who had been signing for goods at an address in Barnet, was also arrested.
Morrison pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud between December 2013 and March 2015 and was given a 21 months suspended sentence and a 100 hour community order.
Siton pleaded guilty to handling £4,100 of goods and handed down a conditional discharge.
Eldridge was given a 22-week sentence suspended for 12 months and Barclay was jailed for eight month.
Both men were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud for their role in signing for the packages in false names.
Morrison and Siton could face a confiscation hearing.
So far officers have recovered £20,000 of goods which have been returned to the gang’s victims.
