Former Northwich resident jailed after Santander bank scam cons woman out of £21,000

A man who pretended to be from a bank and conned a woman into sending him more than £21,000 has been jailed.

Moisa Constantin-Florin, 24, stole the money after ringing his victim claiming to work for Santander.

During the phone call, he told her there had been fraudulent activity on her account, and she needed to transfer all of her funds to a new one.

Convinced by the man, she transferred £21,996.38 into the new account, in June 2021.

But, after becoming suspicious, the woman from Edinburgh, contacted Santander directly and discovered that the call was not genuine.

An investigation by Santander found the money had been transferred into Florin’s account, and the bank was able to recover £16,996.38.

But the remaining £5,000 could not be retrieved as it had already been transferred to other accounts.

Cheshire Constabulary began a subsequent the investigation as Florin was living in Northwich when he committed the offence.

A wanted appeal was launched and Florin was arrested by police in London on 22 August 2022, after officers stop checked a car on Barking Road.

When police searched his car, they found £4,135 cash, numerous phones, sim cards and notepads which contained various bank account details. 

Florin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and possession of criminal property and was sentenced to 15 months in prison on 22 December.

Detective Constable Claire Heatley, of Northwich Proactive Team, said: “Florin was extremely convincing when he contacted the victim and persuaded her to transfer all of the money.

"But thanks to her suspicions she quickly reported the incident to Santander and they agreed to reimburse the victim for all the money she had lost, meaning that she is not out of pocket.“Sadly this is not always the case, and in the age of digital and telephone banking it’s essential that we all take extra care.“You should never share your passwords or bank details, and if you get a phone call from someone claiming to work for your bank and something doesn’t sound right just put the phone down and ring your bank directly, or alternatively visit your local bank.”For more advice and information about how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud visit www.actionfraud.police.uk.

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