A fraudster who stole £35,000 from online bank accounts after gaining access using personal information gleaned from Facebook has been jailed for 15 months.
According to the Telegraph, Iain Wood targeted neighbours living in his block of flats in Newcastle, stealing more than £35,000 over two years, which he blew on gambling.
Wood regularly spent up to 18 hours a day online, scouring sites such as Facebook and Friends Reunited for personal information that could be used to log into online bank accounts.
"He would make friends with people on Facebook and have got their usernames he would try it on the bank websites, on the basis people use the same passwords. If that did not work he would fill in the security information which he had got from Facebook and Friends Reunited," Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said.
When he successfully accessed accounts, Wood would change the address details, intercept the cards and withdraw cash. He was caught after changing tactics and directly transferring £1500 from a neighbour's account to his own.
Wood was jailed for 15 months after pleading guilty to seven counts of false representation and asking for a further six similar offences to be taken into account. He also admitted possessing article for the use in fraud.
Fraudster used Facebook to hack bank accounts - Telegraph