Woman forced to hand over her bank details when she was unable to pay for work done in her home

By Declan Brennan

A mother of five who was unable to pay for work done on her home was forced to hand over her bank details which were then used in a text message scam, a court has heard.

Detective Garda David Jennings told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that tradesmen put Amanda Fitzgerald (39) under duress to hand over her account details and access to her mobile phone.

He said they then passed these details to a gang based in west Dublin who specialise in this type of crime.

Fitzgerald’s bank account was then used to receive funds stolen from the bank account of another woman who was the victim of a text message “smishing” fraud.

Dt Gda Jennings told Michael Hourigan BL, prosecuting, that on January 29, 2021 this woman received a text message purporting to be from Permanent TSB (PTSB) stating “your PTSB Visa card has been used in an un-authorised transaction, not you?”.

The woman assumed it was a legitimate message and clicked on the link in the text message.

She then became concerned that it was likely to be a fraudulent message and called her bank.

She also checked her online bank account and saw that a total €4,950 had been transferred from her account to another PTSB bank account in two transactions.

Around €3,100 of this ended up in Fitzgerald’s account.

From that account €2,400 was further moved into a Revolut account of another money mule and €700 in cash was taken out in two ATM withdrawals.

Fitzgerald was identified and initially told gardaí that her bank account had been hacked but after her arrest she admitted that she had handed over her bank details.

Fitzgerald of Russell Grove, Fortunestown Way, Tallaght pleaded guilty to money laundering on January 21, 2021.

Kieran Kelly BL, defending, told the court that his client had hired some men to paint her kitchen and was told it would cost €250.

When the job was done the men told her the cost was €500 and when she said she didn’t have enough to pay it, they told her she could clear the bill by providing access to her bank account.

She was concerned about this and initially provided a wrong bank account number.

Fitzgerald then got a call at 2am and was told she had to give her correct bank details and access to her mobile phone.

Dt Gda Jennings said that the men “wouldn’t be terribly nice individuals”.

He said that Fitzgerald had never been in trouble before and was under duress when she handed over her bank details.

Mr Kelly said his client worked as a hairdresser three days a week and is the main carer for her five children.

Judge Elma Sheahan said she was taking into consideration the widespread and pernicious nature of this type of fraud.

She also noted the duress placed on Fitzgerald, her lack of any relevant previous offending and her role as a mother.

She discharged Fitzgerald from the charge on condition that she enter a bond to keep the peace for six months, under the Probation Act.