A fraudster was seen smiling as he used stolen identity and banking details to apply for a gym membership before robbing victims’ lockers.
Christopher Forde, 34, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft from gym lockers and two counts of fraud by false representation.
Forde could be seen smiling for a photo at a gym as he fraudulently used a gym user’s identity and banking details to set up a membership.
He then stole bank cards from several gym lockers around the city.
The 34-year-old was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, with police warning they would ‘crack down’ about prolific thieves who target gym goers to steal valuables and bank cards’.
Police added: ‘Beware of suspicious activity and anyone trying to get your locker PIN.’
This comes after it was revealed that less than one in 300 fraud reports results in an indictment.
Christopher Forde, 34, was seen smiling as he used stolen identity and banking details to apply for a gym membership
The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of theft from gym lockers and two counts of fraud by false representation.
The statistics show that just 3,600 criminal charges resulted from more than 1.2 million fraud reports in the year ending March 2024.
Experts are demanding tougher action to tackle the epidemic that is robbing British people and businesses of billions every year, and have called for ‘fewer bobbies on the beat and more nerds in the suite’.
Helena Wood, director of public policy at Cifas – a fraud prevention service, said the way authorities handle fraud needs a “fundamental rethink”.
Ms Wood, formerly of the National Crime Agency, added: ‘Fraud has never been a priority for the police.
“But in the last few years, as it has reached catastrophic levels, we started talking about it as an important issue.”