Connor Turner, 21, from Walton, admitted 33 charges including hacking and fraud after stealing over £70,000 from two elderly victims and splashing the cash on Jet2 holidays, designer clothes and trips to Costco
A cyber criminal swiped more than £70,000 by masquerading as two other men and splashed the cash on a Jet2 getaway, an extravagant Malta trip for his mum’s nuptials and shopping sprees at Costco. Connor Turner plundered his targets, including an elderly man battling serious health problems, before indulging himself with designer gear, takeaways and posh restaurant meals.
The pensioner was left terrified he might lose his life savings and property after being “hacked and pillaged”. Yet the fraudster reportedly displayed “little or no empathy” towards his victims in what marked his second fraudulent spree, having previously nicked another £60,000 through an almost identical scam as a teenager.
Liverpool Crown Court was told today, Thursday, that Turner, from Finborough Road in Walton, “embarked upon a course of conduct to hack and pillage the accounts of two vulnerable individuals of advancing years“. This enabled the 21 year old to pilfer a total of £71,340.90 “for the benefit of himself and his family”.
James Rae, prosecuting, outlined how Turner then blew these funds on takeaways and designer clothes from online stores Moda Bandidos and Yelir World, whilst also making purchases from Costco, Jet2 and Booking.com and withdrawing thousands of pounds in cash. He also splashed £3,418.76 with Emirates as he arranged a family holiday to Malta for his mother and stepfather’s wedding, whilst also racking up “significant spending” at eateries during his time on the Mediterranean isle.
Among those targeted in the scam was 69 year old Graham Benton, whose mobile phone number and email address Turner managed to seize control of before “ravaging” his PayPal account. The defendant then made a series of bank transfers into the bank account of a business named “Lee and the Guys”, which he had established under the name of his “alter ego” Lee Adam Cooper.
Turner also swiped funds from this victim’s GMB Credit Union account and redirected his pension after claiming that the real Mr Benton needed the funds for surgery following previous health issues, as well as attempting to take out loans of up to £20,000 in his name. He proceeded to target a second complainant, 58 year old James Mackrell, by draining his Manchester Credit Union account, pocketing £6,237.39 in the process, reports the Liverpool Echo.
His latest crimes “repeated a similar course of conduct” committed between the ages of 15 and 17, when Turner stole £66,551 by fraudulently gaining access to the phones and accounts of a woman and five different companies. This led to him being given a 12-month sentence in a young offenders’ institute suspended for a year by the same court in September 2023, with his return to offending occurring just months after the expiry of this sentence.
Martine Snowdon, defending, informed the court that her client’s autism spectrum disorder resulted in a “limited ability to reflect on the consequences” and stated: “These are features which mitigate what is otherwise persistent and repetitive offending. Some difficulties in the family background in his childhood are significant. He probably does have greater needs than somebody without his mental functioning and ASD.
“His particular needs are suited to structure, boundaries, rules and regulation. He has expressed surprise at being in custody, not appreciating that he would end up in prison environment as a result of his offending.
“He has been in custody now for four months. It is not insignificant for a young man. The court might be able to say that the deterrent that ought to follow has taken effect.”
Turner pleaded guilty to a total of 33 charges, including unauthorised access to a computer, unauthorised access to computer with intent to commit a further offence, fraud by false representation, using criminal property, transferring criminal property and failure to comply with a Section 49 notice, having provided police with false passcodes for his electronic devices following his arrest.
Appearing via video link from HMP Liverpool clad in a grey Berghaus tracksuit top, he was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.