An elderly Surrey man was conned out of almost £50,000 by a criminal posing as a fraud investigator.

The victim, who had been a victim of fraud previously, was contacted in 2017 by someone claiming to be helping victims to progress their cases. He was convinced to make two payments, one of £20,000 and another of £29,500, despite attempts by his bank to stop the second payment.

A Surrey Police investigation identified the con-man as Martyn Gravill from Doncaster. He has now been jailed for 21 months.
The victim was initially told by Gravill that he would need to pay a £20,000 deposit in order for the work to begin on his case. Believing that this was genuine, the victim transferred the money.

A few days later, he was contacted again and told that he needed to transfer a further £29,500. The victim’s bank stopped the money, but after he was persuaded to sign a fraudulent release form at a local print shop, the transaction went through.
It was this last transaction which sparked the investigation by officers after they were contacted by the victim’s bank.

Following an in-depth investigation tracing bank records and telephone communications, Gravill was found to be linked to the bank account the victim sent the money to, and the phone number that the victim was called from. He was arrested in Doncaster.
T/Detective Sergeant Dominic Yelling, who investigated the case, said: “This was a heartless crime which defrauded an elderly vulnerable man out of his savings. I am pleased that we were able to bring this case to a conclusion and provide some form of justice for the victim.

“I would like to take this opportunity to encourage the family and friends of vulnerable people to keep an eye out for them – unfortunately, they can be the target of fraudulent schemes, but often it’s the people around them who can help stop this from happening.”

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