ATM distraction scam: Trio sentenced for cash machine thefts

The group would distract people at cash machines

Three members of an organised crime group have been sentenced for targeting elderly people at cash machines.

Nathan Brown and sisters Amira and Yasmin Mahmood, who operated across Hertfordshire, Surrey and Kent, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal.

They would claim cash machines were broken and would cover their hand with a piece of paper to steal bank cards, St Albans Crown Court heard.

Brown, 38, of Bradymead, Beckton, east London, was sentenced to 15 months.

After his arrest he was recalled to prison to serve the remainder of a nine-year sentence for rape. The court heard he had 26 convictions for 52 offences.

St Albans Crown Court heard how one victim thought the defendants were being helpful

On 7 January 2022, a 76-year-old woman who had recently suffered a stroke had her card stolen at Tesco in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, and £500 was taken from her account.

The same day a 74-year old man was at Sainsbury's in Potters Bar when Brown and Amira Mahmood appeared standing over his shoulder. He thought they were being helpful, but they had stolen his card and later took out £1,000 from his account.

The court also heard how a 69-year-old woman lost £300 when her card was taken at Tesco in Rainham on 7 February.

'Vulnerable'

Amira Mahmood, 31, of Lawrence Street, Canning Town, east London, had eight previous convictions for 16 offences, mainly shop-lifting. The single mother-of-three was given an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and must abide by a curfew for six months. She will also have to pay £2,200 compensation.

Yasmin Mahmood, 33, of Winters Way, Waltham Abbey, Essex, was sentenced to a curfew for six months and banned from driving for five months. She must also pay £1,700 compensation.

Sentencing the three defendants, Judge Francis Sheridan said: "What you were doing was as mean-spirited and cruel as it is possible to imagine.

"You picked on old, frail and vulnerable people."

He said that had it not been for the police operation they would have picked on more victims.