'Fell into a trap': Student money mule to speak in schools after smishing scam court case
Tom Tuite
A student who let scammers use his bank account to shift more than €16,000 in “smishing” crime proceeds has offered to speak at local schools about the dangers of online fraud, a court has heard.
Darragh Sutcliffe (20), who is planning to sit accountancy exams, was promised €400 in a message from a third party on Snapchat, but never got paid and was prosecuted for money laundering and giving a false statement to gardaí.
Sutcliffe, of Wainsfort Park, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court on Friday and had sentencing adjourned until February.
Judge Gerard Jones heard that €16,350, proceeds of a smishing or phishing scam was lodged into his account in four fraudulent transactions between May 23rd and May 25th, 2023.
The court heard the funds came from three people's accounts.
Some €3,500 was withdrawn from various ATMs in the Lucan area in Dublin until Sutcliffe's account was frozen.
It came to light when one transfer came from a Cork woman who had fallen victim to an "E-flow text scam".
She inadvertently responded and later discovered that €9,350 was transferred from her account without her permission.
Another transfer of €2,000 came from a Killarney resident's account.
After Sutcliffe’s account was identified, he went to Terenure garda station on June 29th, 2023.
Garda Gavin Kelly did not believe Sutcliffe had a role to play in the smishing scam; the accused was a victim and highlighted that the accused was a typical "non-complicit money mule".
He allowed his account to be used on the promise of a financial gain, which he never received. The court noted that students often do not receive the promised reward.
After his bank contacted him, he went to the gardai to make a false report to distance himself from the money laundering.
The banks had reimbursed the three people, but AIB was still down €3,500, the amount withdrawn.
Defence solicitor Damien Coffey said his client was about to sit the Leaving Certificate at the time, and the entirety of the outstanding sum was brought to court, with the assistance of his parents.
The solicitor furnished a letter from him showing his contrition.
Pleading for leniency, Mr Coffee emphasised that his client's family had endured embarrassment and disgust over the past two years due to his actions, yet they still stood by him and were undertaking that he would pay for it.
Mr Coffee submitted that there was less knowledge about these scams two years ago.
The college student is working to repay that money to his parents and plans to write to every local school in his vicinity, offering to speak to pupils about the dangers of these scams.
He had no prior convictions.
Judge Jones remarked that Sutcliffe would not be walking out of court Scot-free.
He said he was a lucky man and the investigating garda had been very fair to him. "Only for that, and the fact he was approached by these strangers and fell into this trap, he would have been heading to Mounjoy," Judge Jones said.
The judge noted the €3,500 was in court, and the judge ordered him to donate €5,000 to a cancer charity as he adjourned the case. He commended the student's parents and ordered the accused to pay them back for the support they had given him.
