A man who built a bespoke device to help him defraud hundreds of people has been jailed.
Mr Tony Muldowney–Colston (also known as Tony Colston-Hayter), aged 53 of Clifton Street, Brighton was charged with nine counts of possession of an article for use in fraud and two counts of making or supplying an article for use in fraud.
On Monday, 15 October Muldowney–Colston pleaded guilty to all 11 charges at Southwark Crown Court and was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment at the same court on Wednesday, 12 December.
Officers from the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit launched a proactive operation in January to investigate the activities of Muldowney-Colston, after identifying him as a key suspect in the commission of cybercrime across the UK.
On Wednesday, 13 June a search warrant was conducted at an address linked to him and he was arrested.
Officers seized a hard drive containing details of passports and identity cards, 32 credit cards, and a spreadsheet containing names, addresses, e-mail addresses and phone numbers pertaining to a private members’ club in central London.
Whilst searching the property officers also discovered evidence of how Muldowney-Colston committed fraud using a home-built device that he used to con people into thinking he was their banking provider.
Muldowney–Colston told officers that he created the device with the intention of gaining access to genuine customer accounts and retrieving the funds available within each account. Examination by the Met’s Digital Communications and Cyber Laboratory confirmed these capabilities.
Officers seized more than 100 exhibits from the address that was searched.
It is estimated Muldowney–Colston gained access to funds in excess of £500,000 from the accounts he accessed.