A vile conman duped frail and terminally-ill pensioners out of thousands with a sophisticated scam in which he convinced them to hand over their bank cards and phones.
Saif Hussain was jailed after admitting 14 counts of fraud at Leeds Crown Court this week, having targeted vulnerable people across the UK, from Aberdeen to Cornwall.
The 28-year-old played a lead role in the slick operation which resulted in tens of thousands of pounds being siphoned from the victims' accounts and spent on designer clothing and other high-value goods.
Prosecutor Philip Adams said Hussain, of Burley Road, Burley, was part of an organised group that targeted the elderly "because of their age, their trusting nature and lack of confidence in technology". During November and December of last year, he swindled residents living in Wetherby, Reading, Derby, Lancashire, Devon, Cornwall, Gloucester, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Somerset, Rochdale and Aberdeen. Some were ill, including one living with cancer, and all were in their late 70s or 80s.
Described by one victim as being "well spoken and charming", Hussain would cold-call the pensioners claiming to be from the the fraud department of their bank, telling them that there was unusual or fraudulent activity in their account. He would often keep them on the phone for hours at a time to gain their trust.
Hussain spearheaded the sophisticated scam in which he fleeced elderly people of thousands. (pics by WYP / National World)In many cases he would call after a fake Evri delivery service email had been sent to them, telling them that they were required to pay a small fee to release a parcel. In some cases, they paid the small fee by entering their bank details.
Hussain would then call them, and in most cases, persuade them to hand over their bank cards, pin numbers and even their mobile phones, telling them a courier would collect them later that day. He would even provide them with a password, which would be confirmed by the courier who later came to their door, to reinforce the bogus security aspect of the fraud. Money would then be transferred from their account, withdrawn from cash points or their cards used in shops.
Hussain got away with tens of thousands of pounds before police were able to pinpoint him. Investigating the number he used to make the calls, they ascertained it was a pay-as-you-go phone that was last topped up at a Shell Garage in Kirkstall. They obtained the CCTV from the garage which showed Hussain making the payment.
He was also driving a Lamborghini - a rare supercar which they were quickly able to trace. It had been hired from a Bradford company by another male but was being driven by Hussain. He had the scam phone on him when he was arrested.
During his police interview he gave a prepared statement, claiming he borrowed the car from a friend and was topping up the phone for that friend, but refused to name him. His phones were analysed and contained messages with another unidentified male about how much money had been scammed and what the second male should be spending the cash on in stores in Manchester. This included high-value good such as iPads and iPhones, while a £2,000 Louis Vuitton jacket was also purchased.
Having been held on remand, Hussain later admitted his part, claiming he was "disgusted" by his actions. He has three previous convictions, including attempting to pervert the course of justice from a driving matter in 2015, and in 2022, 10 offences of fraud through a click-and-collect scam in Leeds.
Mitigating, Erin Kitson-Parker said: "He offers no excuse or explanation for his behaviour. He apologies to his victims. He has let down his pregnant girlfriend and let down his family. He has brought shame on his family. He wants to live a clean and law-abiding life."
Jailing him for five years, Judge Tahir Khan KC told him: "You were clearly very believable because most of the victims readily handed over their pin codes and bank cards to these couriers. There can't be any question about this, that it was sophisticated criminality, clearly it was a group activity that involved significant planning."