Fraudster who scammed equestrian advertisers jailed again
A serial fraudster who conned equestrians out of thousands of pounds has been jailed again, with the help of Horse&Hound.
Charmaine Rowan, 31, of Manchester Road, Huddersfield, was sentenced to four years behind bars at Leeds Crown Court on Monday (16 July).
Rowan, who also went by the name of Charmaine McAllister, admitted to 15 counts of fraud by false representation and one of breaching a criminal behaviour order.
Between November 2017 and January 2018, Rowan conned advertisers into handing over their bank card details. She called her victims, pretending to be a member of the advertising team, and told them their payments had not gone through.
H&H worked with affected advertisers and police to help bring her to justice and has also shared extensive advice to educate readers on how they can protect themselves from scammers.
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“It is a sad fact of life that there are criminals working to target individuals who use their credit cards to pay for a vast variety of goods or services online,” said H&H editor-in-chief Sarah Jenkins following the sentencing.
“So it should be no surprise that any customers should be affected and yet still we were shocked to learn of this activity.
“We take our customers’ data security extremely seriously and were of course deeply concerned and keen to work with the police to help stop the perpetrator.”
In 2015, H&H reported that McAllister had been jailed for 56 months in relation to 45 fraud and theft offences and banned from all equestrian events in England and Wales. She was also given an indefinite criminal behaviour order, banning her from contacting advertisers of horses, ponies or equestrian equipment for sale.
For more details on how to avoid being scammed, click here
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.