Toowoomba woman Felicity Anne Squires faces court after scamming 90 Facebook users out of $32K

A court was told a Toowoomba woman, who scammed 90 people through Facebook and pocketed more than $32,000, did so because she was ‘addicted’ to the adrenaline rush.

Felicity Anne Squires appeared at the Toowoomba Magistrate Court on Tuesday, November 14, via video link from jail and pleaded guilty to 143 fraud charges that were committed between April 2022 and June 2023.

A Toowoomba woman who scammed 90 Facebook users out of more than $32,000 by ‘selling’ an iPhone has been sentenced in court.

Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told the 40-year-old woman had an extensive criminal history of dishonesty offences and committed some of the offences while on parole for the same crime.

Felicity Anne Squires appeared in court on Tuesday, November 14, via videolink from jail and pleaded guilty to 143 fraud charges that were committed between April 2022 and June 2023.

Police prosecutor Chris Willson said the Harristown woman began paying some of the victims back, leaving an outstanding amount of $17,000.

Felicity Anne Squires posted ads on Facebook for the sale of an iPhone and collected payments, however the victims never received the phone.

Senior Constable Willson said the total amount of money fraudulently obtained only related to the victims police were able to get in contact with, noting the extent of Squires’ crime came to light after officers seized her phone in June.

The court was told Squires’ mental health contributed to the offending, and she believed she was addicted to the adrenaline rush of the scam process.

The 40-year-old spent more than 100 days in custody, which solicitor Chelsea Saldumbide said had exacerbated Squires’ mental health issues, noting she was also seriously assaulted in jail.

Ms Saldumbide submitted to the court that Squires be given a parole release date rather than an eligibility date, despite some of the crimes being committed while she was on parole.

The director of McConnell and Saldumbide Criminal Lawyers’ submission was successful, with magistrate Clare Kelly sentencing Squires in a way that allowed her to immediately be released on parole.

The Toowoomba courthouse.

Ms Saldumbide said Squires would not use any devices until her mental health was ‘under control’, and she now had the support of her family who became estranged when the offending began, however they now supported her.

Squires’ father, two sisters, two close friends, and ex-husband were at court in support of her, and burst into tears when Ms Kelly said she would be released from custody on Tuesday, November 15.

Squires was sentenced to a two year jail term and 55 days of the time she spent in custody was declared as time served, and the remaining time spent behind bars was also taken into account.

For the handful of fraud crimes Squires committed while on parole, she was convicted and not further punished.

No formal arrangements were made in regard to restitution, however the court was told it would be addressed through another avenue.