This is the moment three men managed to steal from a small business in a card machine scam which made them thousands. One can be seen tampering with the machine so it refunds the card rather than charges it, while his accomplices distract a cafe worker. One of the fraudsters, Omar Said-Baker, 30, is wanted after failing to attend a sentencing hearing at Bristol Crown Court where Abdullah Said-Ahmed, 29 and Tahir Mohammed, 30, were handed suspended sentences for the scheme. They are all seen on CCTV footage from Edna’s Kitchen in Bristol.
In one clip, one of the fraud gang appears to ask a member of staff at Cafe Revival in Bristol to fetch a stirrer his coffee before asking another question as his accomplice plugs away at the machine to steal thousands of pounds. The other clip released by police is taken from a camera at the back of Edna’s Kitchen, also in Bristol, and shows the shop worker going to and from the fridge while the fraud is committed.
The three men were caught after police stopped a car using false number plates on the M4 – which runs between their homes in London and Bristol, where they had been targeting stores. After searching the vehicle, officers found a large quantity of expensive clothing and multiple credit and debit cards, four of these were in Said-Baker’s name. Further enquiries linked the three men to the refund scam and CCTV was recovered which showed how at least one of the men would distract the shop worker while the refunds were carried out.
A number of small independent business were targeted between February and March 2019 around Cabot Circus and the surrounding area. Said-Ahmed and Mohammed pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to commit fraud last month. Said-Ahmed was given a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months and must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work while Mohammed was jailed for 23 months, suspended for 18 months and must do 200 hours of unpaid work.
However, a warrant for Said-Baker has been issued after his failure to attend the hearing at Bristol Crown Court. Detective Sergeant Louise Sinclair, from Avon and Somerset Police’s Complex Fraud Team, said: ‘These three men brazenly stole thousands of pounds from small shops and cafes.’
On one occasion, they refunded more than £5,000 from an independent cafe. ‘I hope this investigation reassures small business owners that no matter how complex an investigation might be, we will do everything we can to ensure those who harm people’s livelihoods will be held to account.’
‘I also hope this case reminds shop workers of the need to be vigilant, to not allow customers to handle PDQ machines and the importance of reporting suspicious behaviour or criminality to us.’
It comes after shop CCTV from across the country exposed a ‘gold swap hustler’ for scamming jewellers by swapping real and fake gold out of sight while they paid him.
Footage emerged from stores in Hailsham, East Sussex, and 230 miles away in Stoke-on-Trent showing a man getting real gold valued, but swapping it for fakes before running off with cash and the valuables.
Ashley Adams Jewellers in Hailsham was left £1,100 out of pocket with only ‘two lumps of brass’ to show for it after thinking the shop worker thought they were getting their hands on some pharaoh head pendants. Hundreds of miles north months later, the man was joined by a female accomplice when he came to the Church Street Gold Pottery and Furniture wanting to sell 9-carat gold, which a businessman examined and confirmed was genuine.
After managing to switch the bags, the pair fled the scene with the pawn shops money. Sussex and Staffordshire Police both said they were investigating and encouraged witnesses to call police on 101, quoting incident number 396 of June 20, or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
