A student who allowed scammers to use his bank account to funnel over €16,000 from a “smishing” scam has offered to speak in local schools to raise awareness about online fraud, a court was told, reports The Mirror.
A 20-yr-old Dublin student who intends to sit his accountancy exams, was lured by a €400 offer from someone on Snapchat but never received any payment. He now faces charges for money laundering and providing a false statement to gardaí.
The student pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court yesterday. Judge Gerard Jones deferred sentencing until February. The court was told that €16,350—proceeds from phishing-style scams—was deposited into his account through four fraudulent transactions between May 23 and May 25, 2023, reports The Mirror.
The illicit funds were traced back to three separate victims. Around €3,500 of the stolen money was withdrawn at various ATMs in the Lucan area before Sutcliffe’s account was frozen.
The case came to light when one of the transfers, worth €9,350, was traced to a Cork woman who had unknowingly responded to a fake E-flow toll text. She later found the money missing from her account without authorisation, reports The Mirror.
Another transfer of €2,000 came from an account belonging to someone in Killarney. After Sutcliffe’s account was identified, he voluntarily attended Terenure Garda Station on June 29, 2023.
Garda Gavin Kelly told the court he did not believe the student was directly involved in the scam. He said the accused was more of a victim and fit the profile of a “non-complicit money mule”, reports The Mirror.
He had let his bank account be used after being promised a reward that never materialised. The court noted that it is common for students to be duped into such arrangements with no payment actually made.
When contacted by his bank, the student went to the gardaí but made a false statement in an attempt to distance himself from the crime. Though the banks reimbursed the affected customers, AIB still suffered a €3,500 loss due to the cash withdrawals, reports The Mirror.
Defence solicitor Damien Coffey said his client had been preparing for his Leaving Certificate at the time. The full amount was presented in court with help from his parents, who also provided a letter from Sutcliffe expressing deep remorse.
In seeking leniency, Mr Coffey said the past two years had brought considerable shame and upset to Sutcliffe’s family, but they continued to support him and had committed to helping him make restitution. He noted that public awareness of such scams was lower at the time of the offence, reports The Mirror.
Now in college, the student is repaying his parents and intends to contact every secondary school in his area, offering to speak to students about the dangers of online scams. He has no prior criminal history.
Judge Jones stated that the student would not be leaving court “Scot-free”. He remarked that the young man was fortunate and that the investigating garda had shown him fairness. “Only for that, and the fact he was approached by these strangers and fell into this trap, he would have been heading to Mountjoy,” the judge said, reports The Mirror.
He acknowledged the €3,500 presented in court and directed the student to donate €5,000 to a cancer charity. He also praised the student’s parents and ordered him to repay them for their financial support.
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