A Gumtree fraudster who conned a man out of money for a non-existent iPhone was snared when he sent his victim a box containing a key piece of evidence – his own address.
Steven Yule’s hapless criminal scheme fell to pieces when he decided to fill the iPhone box with a series of random items, including a yellow hat and a broken watch.
But it was the fact he also included a DVLA penalty notice – containing his own address – that was to prove his downfall.
The 52-year-old posted an advert for an iPhone 8 on the popular online marketplace and tricked two victims into sending £95 and £288 respectively.
Fiscal depute Dylan Middleton told Aberdeen Sheriff Court Yule’s first victim, a man from Northern Ireland, saw the ad for the phone on March 17 2019.
He tried to pay £190 using PayPal but Yule insisted on a bank transfer instead.
The victim agreed and sent an initial payment of £95, and was shown a picture of a package addressed to him.
However, when the parcel arrived the buyer was surprised to find an iPhone 6 box inside, rather than the iPhone 8 which had been advertised.
Matters went from bad to worse when he opened the box and found it contained the yellow hat, a broken watch and penalty notice from the DVLA addressed to Yule.
Police were then contacted.
Second victim
On March 18 2019, a woman unwittingly became Yule’s second victim after spotting the iPhone 8 advert and sending him £288 for the device.
The following day she contacted Yule to check if the package had been posted and was assured it had been.
Four days later she messaged again as she still hadn’t received the phone. Yule did not reply and so police were called.
Yule, of Manor Avenue, Aberdeen, pled guilty to two charges of fraud.
Defence agent Neil McRobert said his client was using crack cocaine and had built up a drug debt at the time of the offences.
He added: “The offences were committed to address the drug debt and fund his drug use at the time.”
Mr McRobert said Yule was now clean of illicit substances.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin imposed two compensation orders, instructing Yule to pay his victims back £95 and £288 respectively.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen and the latest crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.
