Five of Victoria’s online scammers revealed

Identity thieves, marketplace scammers and online hackers have been stealing thousands of dollars from unsuspecting Victorians. Here are some of the dodgy offenders.

Online fraudsters have been targeting unsuspecting Victorians since the dawn of the internet.

Swindlers have taken to social media, dating apps and good oil’ fashioned online identity theft to rob innocent victims of their hard earned cash.

Here are some of the state’s online grifters unmasked.

Love sick swindler

An ageing love rat with a decades-long history of deception conned four women out of almost $200,000 with broken promises and lies after meeting them on a dating app.

Rick McLeod was jailed for his scams. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Rick McLeod, 74, met the women on the dating app Oasis between 2017 and 2019.

He told his dates about lucrative investment opportunities, his silver tongue managing to convince the women to transfer him tens of thousands of dollars.

He pocketed the funds and did not invest them.

McLeod was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison on all charges, with a minimum parole period of two years and three months.

Designer defrauder

Alana Catherine Petridis, 37, conned more than $60,000 from thrifty fashionista’s looking to buy designer goods on Facebook marketplace.

Petridis operated multiple fake Facebook profiles where she would post listings on marketplace for second hand designer clothing.

Petridis used several Facebook accounts and designer clothes buy swap sell groups to commit her frauds. Picture: Supplied.

When women replied to her listings, Petridis would allegedly direct them to send payments to one of six bank accounts which were set up in false names.

The customers never received their items, despite Petridis promising she had sent them.

When they would ask for a refund, Petridis would block them.

She was jailed for four months for scamming 87 women from across the country through fraudulent advertisements on Facebook marketplace over a three-year period in July.

Promised pet pilferer

A year 12 student was slammed for being greedy and naive after he scammed more than $270,000 off people on social media by promising them a pet.

Thomas Perillo, 20, posed as a pet seller during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when lonely people were turning to pets for companionship.

Perillo posed as a pet seller during the Covid-19 pandemic. Picture: Supplied.

Perillo was branded a “mule and facilitator” for his part in the larger scam.

He pocketed $27,000 — or about 10 per cent of the total earnings — of the profit.

In his sentencing, Magistrate John O’Callaghan admonished Perillo, saying the community was “sick to death” of online scams and Perillo had broken their trust.

“They are like the new armed robbery … it’s easier for a crook and fraudster to hop onto the computer and prey on people for their hard-earned money,” he said.

“Ordinary people who think they are dealing with an honest organisation and suddenly the money’s gone, the pet is gone, if it existed, and trust is gone.

Perillo was placed on a two-year community corrections order without conviction and put on a good behaviour bond.

Hacking hoaxer

A Melbourne-based identity thief who was part of an international computer hacking syndicate that defrauded Australians of nearly $8m was nabbed just before he was due to fly out of the country.

Nigeria-bound Maxwell Ikebudu was found guilty of siphoning $7.8m from people and businesses across Australia by hacking their emails between February 2019 and July 2021.

Ikebudu, known to the computer hacking syndicate as “Nigerian Plug Million”, created and controlled multiple bank accounts using the identities of people without their knowledge and channelled fraudulently-received money into his and his partner’s accounts.

Ikebudu would convert his stolen funds into cryptocurrency before sending it overseas. Picture: Supplied.

He would then convert the funds into forms such as cryptocurrency and gold bullion before sending them overseas.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison on June 14 with a non-parole of eight years.

Trailer trickster

Kenyan man Kevin Too, 23, was drawn into an elaborate, international Facebook Marketplace scam that left victims thousands of dollars out of pocket.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of obtaining property by deception, after assisting an old school friend to scam two Australians out of more than $2000.

Too helped an old school friend to scam two Australians on Facebook Marketplace. Picture: Facebook

One victim transferred To $2000 for a tandem trailer he saw listed on Facebook marketplace, but upon pick-up he realised he was duped.

A second victim fell for the same listing.

Both sets of fund were transferred to To’s bank account,

He was sentenced to an adjourned undertaking and given 10 months to pay back the victims of the scams.