Woman jailed for card scam targeting elderly people

Lisa Mary Macardle turned up at the addresses of people in their 90s, claiming to be a bank courier

A woman has been jailed for two and a half years after conning elderly people into handing over their bank cards.

Lisa Mary Macardle, 39, from Aylesbury, pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and one count of possessing criminal property.

She turned up at addresses in Dorset, Hampshire, and Northamptonshire, pretending to be from the victims' banks, and convinced them that their cards needed to be cancelled. She went on to use the cards to withdraw more than £10,000.

All the victims were in their 90s.

Thames Valley Police said the first victim, a 98-year-old woman from Dorset, received a telephone call on her landline on 17 June 2023 by a man claiming to be from her bank.

He informed her that her bank cards needed to be cancelled, a new one would be sent out, and a courier would pick up the old cards.

Two days later Macardle came to the house and collected a bank card.

She then withdrew £500 from an ATM in Bournemouth, bought Apple products in John Lewis in Southampton for almost £4,000, and took out £50 from an ATM in Aylesbury.

Macardle withdrew money from ATMs using her victims' bank cards

On 23 June a 96-year-old man from Northampton was tricked by the same scam.

Macardle withdrew £500 from an ATM in Leicestershire, and bought about £1,500 of Apple products at Currys in Milton Keynes.

Then on 28 June a 91-year-old woman from Hampshire was targeted.

On this occasion Macardle withdrew £250 from an ATM in Hampshire and spent almost £4,000 on Apple products at Currys in Aylesbury.

She tried to buy a piece of jewellery at Ernest Jones Jewellers in Oxford for £1,915, but the transaction was unsuccessful.

Throughout her fraudulent activities several other purchases, transfers, and ATM withdrawals failed to go through too.

Macardle was arrested on the day of her last spending spree, charged the following month, and sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court earlier this month.

No other suspects were identified during the investigation.

Det Insp Duncan Wynn described Macardle's criminal activities as courier fraud, "where criminals deceive victims into handing over money, valuables, or sensitive information by posing as authorities or trusted individuals".

He said "vulnerable or elderly individuals" were often targeted.

"Courier fraud preys on the victim's trust, vulnerability, and fear of authority, making it a particularly insidious form of deception," he added.