A Fife swindler stole more than £2,200 from her own mother and used a stranger’s details to spend money on fraudulent store cards.
Donna McCall used her own mother’s bank details to defraud her of £2,251 through purchases on deal site Groupon.
She also opened mail addressed to a previous home occupier and scammed her by using the details to set up credit card accounts in her name.
Donna McCall fraudulently obtained more than £715 worth of goods from Next, JD Williams and Grattan through her scheme.
McCall, 39, of Lochgelly‘s Stationhead Road, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, having previously pled guilty to four fraud charges.
Defrauded own mum
McCall admitted spending £2,251.34 using her mother’s bank details to fraudulently obtain goods from Groupon, between January 6 and May 5 2020.
Fiscal depute Amy Robertson said on May 26 2020 McCall’s mother went to a local shop to buy food but her bank card was declined.
With the help of a support worker – needed due to a brain injury – she made enquiries at her bank and a printed statement revealed numerous mystery transactions.
McCall initially denied making the purchases but then said she must have “accidentally put in the wrong details”.
After a few minutes she admitted making purchases using her mother’s bank details.
The fiscal added: “However, she did not know how much money she actually spent”.
McCall’s mother discussed the matter with her son before a decision was made to contact police.
Store card scam
The court heard McCall was rumbled by her other victim who went to the bank to make a mortgage enquiry and was declined due to her credit score being too low.
Ms Robertson said the woman subsequently found a number of credit cards in her name with “substantial” debt she did not know about.
The woman contacted each of the stores involved and discovered she had overdue balances, prompting her to contact police.
Ms Robertson said the address linked to the accounts was her former home, from which she moved in October 2018.
The fiscal said: “The first account was opened using the old address five months after she moved out and the accused had moved in”.
The court heard McCall, who also uses the surname Dempster, later admitted to her brother the previous occupant of the address had not redirected all mail.
The fiscal continued: “She (McCall) opened the mail and used details to set up credit card accounts with various companies”.
A mobile phone number used to set up the three accounts was McCall’s but it was in her mother’s name.
McCall pled guilty to falsely presenting to Next, JD Williams and Grattan the personal details of a woman to open and obtain a credit card and fraudulently obtaining goods from each of the retailers using the credit card account.
She obtained goods to the value of £355.95 from Grattan, £263.75 from JD Williams and £96 from Next.
The offending took place in March, April and August 2019.
‘Extreme remorse’
Defence lawyer Jaclyn Robertson said McCall is “extremely remorseful” for her behaviour and asked for the offences to be dealt with in a manner that allows her client to keep her liberty and pay what she is due the victims.
The solicitor said McCall had been drinking alcohol heavily in 2019 and 2020 and had a bad credit rating herself.
She felt under pressure to provide for her children but concealed the true extent of her alcohol issues from family.
Ms Robertson said: “Her circumstances at the moment could not be more different from the time of offending”.
The lawyer said McCall works full time in a care home and has now been sober for 21 months.
Ms Robertson said her client’s mother said she does not want the money back but just wants her daughter to stay sober.
It was not made clear in court whether either of the victims have since received any money back through their banks.
Sheriff Francis Gill sentenced McCall to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.
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