A man duped his friend into handing over her credit card details then went on to lose nearly £5,000 from online casinos.
Gambling addict Andrew McCraw contacted the woman – a friend of 20 years – and convinced her he needed the card details to apply for an online poker tournament.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told the 43-year-old then drained her balance of £4,700 by gambling at online casinos.
His solicitor told the court his client was a gambling addict who was seeking help for his problems.
Accused told friend ‘nothing would come off the balance’
Fiscal depute Stephanie Cardow told the court that on March 20 2020 that McCraw’s friend received a text message from him asking if he could have her credit card details in order to receive an online bonus.
“He told her he was only using it for an online poker tournament over the weekend and that nothing would come off the balance,” Ms Cardow said.
“The complainer furnished him with the details and over the course of the next month a number of transactions occurred from online casinos.”
It was stated that the friend then contacted McCraw and asked him about the missing money, where he made “various promises to pay the money back”.
“She thereafter contacted the police,” Mrs Cardow said.
McCraw, who has a previous conviction for a similar crime in 2013, pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud.
‘He is an addict’
Defence agent Stuart Murray told the court simply that his client “is an addict” and that he was “embarrassed” by his devious actions.
“I’m not trying to justify this at all, but I would put this as dangerous as an addiction to drugs or alcohol,” he said.
Mr Murray added that McCraw has now taken steps to deal with his addiction and was about to receive one-on-one counselling.
It was also stated that McCraw’s victim was able to recoup the money lost from her bank.
Sheriff David Sutherland told McCraw: “This is not the first time you have faced this kind of charge and thankfully the complainer has been reimbursed – but not by you.”
He made McCraw subject to a community payback order with supervision for 18 months and ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.
“Given your previous history, if you do not adhere to this order then you will almost certainly be sent to prison,” Sheriff Sutherland added.
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