A Facebook fraudster conned a football fan out of cash online selling non-existent match tickets.
Callum Gardener offered tickets to a fixture between Rangers and Livingston for sale on the social media site.
A fan snapped up the seats, sending Gardener a £95 online payment, only to discover the sale was a scam.
Callum Gardener, 22, of Millbank Road, Dingwall, pled guilty by letter to a single charge of fraud when the case called at Inverness Sheriff Court.
The court heard that on Feb 11 2020 Gardener had posted an advert offering tickets for the match on February 15 for sale on the social media platform.
Ticket scam victim sent £95 by Paypal
Fiscal depute Ruaridh Allison told the court: “The complainer contacted the seller and agreed to buy the tickets for £95, which they sent via Paypal to the account provided.”
However, shortly after sending the money the complainer came across another post on Facebook warning that the seller’s ad was a scam, and claiming someone else had purchased the ‘tickets’.
Mr Allison said police traced the IP address of the fraudster, which came back as being registered to Gardener. He was subsequently traced to his home address.
Sheriff Gary Aitken ordered Gardener to pay £150 compensation to the victim of his scam and imposed as further £50 fine and a £10 victim surcharge, making a total financial penalty of £210.