A fraudster who advertised kittens for sale online has been ordered to pay compensation after the prospective pet owners discovered it was a scam.
Vicki Clinton, 34, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where she admitted placing an ad on a Royal Deeside Facebook community page claiming she had kittens for sale.
Over nearly five months, nine people were taken in by the scheme, paying deposits that totalled £470.
Nine victims taken in by scam
Fiscal depute Emma Petersen told the court that on November 21 2021 a number of people spotted a Gumtree advert had been posted on the Ballater and Crathie community Facebook page offering kittens for sale for £100 each.
“The ad communicated that the location of place that sold the kittens was also in Ballater and the name used on Facebook was that of the accused,” Ms Petersen said.
“Various people made contact with the accused, with nine people in particular contacting her in relation to the ad.
“These people engaged in messages with the accused in relation to the actual sale of kittens.
“It would vary in nature, but sometimes the accused would state that a deposit was required to secure the sale.”
A number of the prospective buyers enquired about visiting the kittens and Clinton would often set a date for the visit but would then cancel it.
But, on occasion, she would send pictures of the kittens when requested to do so.
The buyers were asked to send a sum of money by way of a deposit – which ranged from £30 to £100.
The average deposit paid was £50.
However, one woman transferred the full amount of £100.
Buyers became suspicious
As people became suspicious, they posted about their experience on the Ballater and Crathie community page before reporting Clinton to the police.
Various search warrants were executed and evidence of the payments was found in Clinton’s bank account.
While being interviewed by police, she admitted to taking part in a fraudulent scheme and that at no point did she have kittens for sale.
She further admitted to the police that she had carried out the scam to feed her drug habit.
When tallied up, the total amount taken between December 5 2021 and April 19 2022 was £470.
Clinton pleaded guilty to one charge of obtaining various sums of money by fraud.
Vicki Clinton ‘is apologetic’ over fraud
Her defence lawyer, Jenny Logan, told the court that her client had been going through “family and personal struggles” at the time she carried out the scam.
“She told me she did it in order to be able to buy her children Christmas presents – but that is not an excuse and she knows that,” Ms Logan said.
“Ms Clinton is apologetic and she does take responsibility for what she has done.”
Sheriff Margaret Hodge said she noted that since this incident Clinton had managed to “turn her life around”.
However, she described Clinton’s actions as a “devious scheme to defraud these people.”
Sheriff Hodge ordered Clinton, of Smithfield Gardens, Aberdeen, to repay every one of her victims in full and made a compensation order for a total of £470.
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