Fraudster posed as police officer in order to steal bank cards

A FRAUDSTER posed as a police officer and told an elderly Runcorn couple that “local people had been robbed and had their fingers cut off” in order to steal bank cards from pensioners.

- BY ADAM EVERETT

He then embarked on a £40,000 spending spree at Selfridges and the Trafford Centre.

Gavin Butters formed part of a team of conmen who callously targeted a dozen vulnerable and elderly victims across the country, including a recently widowed man, forcing them to foot the bill for a luxury splurge at shops which also included John Lewis and Apple stores.

Described as the “leg man” of the operation, having visited the homes of the complainants in order to collect their debit cards after the scam had been set up over the phone, he also took nearly £10,000 of jewellery from one couple. This heartbreakingly saw one woman lose the wedding rings which had belonged to her deceased parents.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday, that a caller, not said to be Butters, would phone victims purporting to be a police officer and report that they had already been targeted by scammers. The defendant would then visit their houses in order to collect their bank cards under the false pretence that they needed to be checked for the fingerprints of those who had apparently used them fraudulently.

Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, detailed how the 27-year-old would thereafter use these cards in order to purchase “high value goods” and make cash withdrawals. He added: “The victims were often elderly people who were harassed and badgered by the fraudster on the phone.

“In one sense, the defendant was the leg man. He took the risk. In another sense, the fraud could not have operated without him. He had a critical role. On one occasion, he identified himself as a police officer in order to fraudulently obtain a card.”