Man's identity stolen to facilitate online scam operation

A Meath man whose identity was stolen to facilitate an online scam operation says he doesn't want anyone else to fall victim of fraud.

27 year old Conor Gleeson's driving licence is currently being used as part of an intricate scamming operation on Facebook marketplace originating in North Dublin. He is urging people to share the scam and the picture of his licence on social media to stop anyone else being conned.

The Navan native currently working in a ski resort in the French Alps is aware of four instances where people were scammed using his driving licence but fears there might be many more.

The scam involves the individual in question turning up to buy a product, introducing themselves as Conor Gleeson and providing the licence to the seller as security. The scammer does a bank transfer through a fraudulent app and leaves with the product. The money never arrives into the sellers account, with only Conor's details left to contact.

Conor explains how it all unfolded:

"Halfway through November, I had a laptop for sale through Facebook Marketplace because I was heading travelling for a while and I was selling a few things," he said.

"I was contacted by someone interested in buying it so guys arrived at my house in Dublin where I was living at the time. I got chatting to one of them, he checked out the laptop out and arranged a bank transfer for €950.

"They went ahead to do a bank transfer and was able to show me a receipt of the transfer that was after being done.

"It showed €950 leaving the account and it had my name and IBAN but I told them I wasn't going to give them the laptop before the money came into my account so they eventually went on their way.

"I didn't cop it at the time, but there were a few of my cards on the table the laptop was on, and obviously one of them took a picture of the driving licence and have been using that since to scam other people."

The Navan native only realised what had happened when a friend shared a post about the scam involving Conor's driving licence on social media: He added:

"About three or four weeks ago one of my mates in Navan sent me on a Facebook post with my driving licence picture saying this guy is a thief, he was part of a scam where he rocked up to my house and took a watch and the money never arrived in my account.

"I contacted the guy who made that post to explain everything to him and to be fair he was very nice about it and apologised and took my photo down.

"I thought that was the end of it but then Drogheda Garda Station got in contact to say another scam using my identity had been reported to them that's when it started to get a bit scary.

"I put a Facebook post up yesterday to make people aware that this was happening and I was contacted by a few people in Scotland who the same thing had happened to so it's a bit enough operation that they have."

Conor says he wants details of the scam shared to stop other people being duped. He added:

"I want to make sure as many people share this as possible so my driver's licence is worthless to them.

"I'd also tell people to think twice before inviting anyone you interact on these selling platforms into your home and to also protect your personal identification at all times."

Gardai have been contacted for comment