A convicted sex offender was duped into becoming involved in a PayPal scam worth nearly £2,000
William Meek, 48, agreed to have laptops delivered to his Dundee home by an online fraudster.
Two laptops and a mobile phone were sent to Meek’s address on Polepark Road after the sellers were conned into believing payments had been made.
The scammer, working under the name “Debbie Kareem”, sent a fake email containing bogus receipts for payments that were never received.
Meek was jailed for 10 months in May after being stung by a vigilante group trying to meet a child for sex.
He was initially placed on a community payback order at Dundee Sheriff Court but was branded “unmanageable” after failing to comply with the requirements.
He was twice caught with internet-capable devices which a strict court order had banned him from possessing.
Duped
Meek, a prisoner of HMP Perth, was not present in court to answer the latest charge but had a guilty plea tendered on his behalf by solicitor advocate Douglas Thomson.
Between October 11 and 15 2019, Meek admitted resetting two laptops worth £700 and £750 respectively.
He also admitted obtaining a £750 mobile phone by fraud through the same means between October 16 to 17 2019.
Mr Thomson said Meek, who has learning difficulties, was randomly contacted by the scammer and asked to receive the items at his home address.
He told Sheriff Alastair Carmichael: “He was to receive these parcels and this mysterious person would uplift the items.
“There was no obvious reason why a third party would send it. Perhaps it was someone who was aware of his learning difficulties.
“He was involved in this and, to a large extent, was duped into this.
“He received no payment for this.”
Meek was sentenced to eight weeks in prison.
