Con artist who kept vulnerable and disabled pensioners on the phone for hours so fraud gang could fleece them of their £186,000 life savings is jailed

Daily Mail​

01-08-2025

A female con artist who helped crooks fleece disabled pensioners out of £186,000 by keeping them on the phone for hours in bank scam call plot has been jailed.
Shameless Lydia Cunningham wept in the dock as she was sentenced to almost four years behind bars for being the ringleader of the criminal racket.
The 28-year-old, operating with fellow cheat Youssef Hassan, 20, was part of a gang that deliberately targeted 26 vulnerable victims - including an 84-year-old who was caring for her son with stage four lung cancer.
The trickster, who lives in leafy street in Hampton, Richmond upon Thames, would call pensioners claiming to be from their bank before arranging to steal their savings.
Cunningham kept some of her victims on the phone for up to 12 hours while her fake 'couriers' - which included John Burgess, 27, and Hassan - turned up to collect their bank cards before draining them of cash.
The gang was busted after Hassan was arrested in Twickenham, west London on February 1, 2024, having led police on a 90mph chase while high on cannabis.
Cunningham and Hassan admitted conspiracy to acquire or use criminal property, namely a mobile and cash, between June 2023 and June 2024. Hassan also admitted dangerous driving.
Burgess, was also charged with conspiracy to acquire or use criminal property, but hanged himself in prison earlier this year, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Cunningham, of sobbed as prosecutor Jonathan Loades described how she 'played the lead role and was involved in all almost all the communications with the victims in the crime'.
'She was described as keeping victims on the phone for hours and hours,' Mr Loades told the court. 'One victim said she kept them in the phone for 12 hours.
'This was partly to prevent the victim from making calls to the bank, and was part of the relatively sophisticated enterprise.
'Hassan's principal role was to act as a courier to go to people's houses and take from them the phones and the bank card they were willing to provide.
'Hassan was sent many miles away to collect the items as directed by Cunningham.
'Simply put, the victim was telephoned often by Cunningham, claiming to be representative of a bank.
'Cunningham had access to a number of phones and sim cards were regularly swapped between handsets.
'She claimed their bank details were comprised, and told them to place items in an envelope to wait collection by a courier.'
Mr Loades said the callous cohort of crooks had clearly picked their targets, targeting some of the most vulnerable in society.
'I don't think there was anybody who was not targeted in this case who was not elderly,' the prosecutor added.
Mr Loades told the court how the fraudsters targeted a 70-year-old disabled man.
'Cunningham pretended she was calling from NatWest and tried to convince the disabled man to go to Canary Wharf that evening to hand in his card.' he said.
'She told the man she could arrange for a private courier service to hand over the cards if he could not make the journey.'
Mr Loades said on another occasion a 'white male' turned up at an elderly's woman's home after Cunningham called up posing as a bank worker.
'The victim said Cunningham kept her on the phone all day, and directed her to transfer the money.
'She thought she had about £12,000 on one card, which was completely wiped.'
The victim told police: 'At the time, I was caring for my daughter, who has cerebral palsy. I was very stressed... I now find it hard to trust people.'
Cunningham also conned a 73-year-old man after telling her she was 'Josie Hannah from NatWest,' said Mr Loades.
'Cunningham explained that her bank cards had been used fraudulently, and needed to be replaced.
'She convinced the victim. Hassan then turned up, and £46,000 was taken from the victim's account.
Mr Loades told the court an 84-year-old woman was targeted while caring for her son who had stage four lung cancer at the time.
She said: 'This has made me extremely anxious, even in my own home.'
Another victim was conned into giving 'tens of thousands of pounds worth' of jewellery, the court heard.
She said in a victim impact statement: 'I feel violated. I felt like my body did not belong to me.
'I've struggled to sleep. I feel like a wreck because of this.'
Tom Edwards, defending Cunningham, said: 'There are clearly people providing the information on how to contact the victims, who must have prior nature of the victim's circumstances.
'Although she was seen on shops using the victim's bank cards, she was not a primary recipient of all the money.
'She is still a young woman, and does not have a significant criminal history.'
Mark Stevens, defending Hassan, said: 'There are others alleged to have been involved, but it is not the case that Hassan was involved in each and every occasion.'
Before sentencing remarks, Hassan shouted at the press box: 'Get out. I don't want my name everywhere' and gestured to the door.
Passing sentence, the judge Recorder Annabel Darlow KC said: 'This was a courier fraud deliberately targeting elderly, vulnerable victims, some of whom were disabled.
'The victims were giving the choice of accepting the courier or taking the items to Canary Wharf, a location deliberately selected knowing it was a difficult place for an elderly person to get to.
Recorder Darlow KC told Cunningham: 'I am satisfied you played a leading role. You kept your victims on the phone for hours, sometimes even for 12 hours, and that was pure cunning on your part.'
She told Hassan: 'You were lower down the hierarchy, but you still played a significant role.
'You were cruelly fooling vulnerable elderly individuals.
'The offending was sophisticated over a prolonged period of time.
'You knew the personal details of the victim, which inspired confidence in them trusting you.
'That information could only have come from secure sources.
'These were ruthless crime plundered by you and your conspirators, emptying bank accounts, and frittering away huge sums of money.
'Your victims have been left feeling vulnerable in the one place they should feel safe, in their own homes.
'Savings accumulated over years of hard work were simply wiped out.
The judge jailed Cunningham for 46 months, and ordered her to pay back £1950.70.
Hassan was jailed for 30 months, and was disqualified from driving for 21 months.
Hassan of Westminster, London, has previous convictions for seven offences of robbery, driving offences and assault by beating of an emergency worker.