• Moisa Constantin-Florin called the victim to notify her of fraudulent activity on her account.
• He falsely claimed to work for Santander Bank and persuaded her to transfer £22,000.
• Fraudster was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Chester Crown Court.

A guy was sentenced to prison after defrauding a woman of £22,000 in a “extremely convincing” financial scam.

When Moisa Constantin-Florin called the victim to notify her of fraudulent activity on her account, he falsely claimed to work for Santander Bank.

According to Cheshire Police, he persuaded the victim that she needed to move her money to a new account.

Constantin-Florin, 24, of Northwich, Cheshire, was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Chester Crown Court.

He guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and illicit property possession.

Cheshire Police stated that the woman, who was in Edinburgh at the time, became concerned after placing £21,996.38 into the new account on June 28, 2021.

She immediately called Santander and was advised that the call was not real.

Investigators at the bank discovered that the money had been transferred to Constantin-account Florin’s and were able to retrieve £16,996.38 of the stolen cash.

However, £5,000 had been transferred to other accounts and could not be recovered.

Constantin-Florin, who lived in Northwich at the time of the offence, was apprehended by police in London on August 22, 2022, after authorities stopped and searched a car on Barking Road.

Officers seized £4,135 cash, as well as a number of mobile phones, sim cards, and notepads containing various bank account numbers, during a search of the vehicle.

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

“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.”

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