William George Carlyon faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court for fraud after selling PlayStation he didn’t have

Hard up for cash, a Toowoomba man managed to swindle another man out of $750 by selling a PlayStation 5 that he didn’t have in a fraud described as ‘amateur’.

Struggling financially and looking to get some quick, easy money, an unemployed Toowoomba man fleeced another man out of $750 by selling a PlayStation 5.

The only problem was the console didn’t exist, but William George Carlyon’s “amateur” deception came crashing down after police traced the money his victim transferred to his own bank account.

Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told on October 10 the 20-year-old made contact with another man on Twitter on September 30, 2021 who was looking to buy the gaming console.

William George Carlyon, 20, defrauded his victim of $750 after claiming to have a PlayStation 5, Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told on October 10, 2022.

After a number of messages Carlyon provided his PayPal account details, and after the victim deposited $10 to make sure the account was legitimate followed up with a second transfer of $740, police prosecutor Sergeant Julia Wheaton said.

However the console never arrived, and the victim made a complaint to police who were able to track down Carlyon thanks to the phone number and account details he had provided to the man he just fleeced.

In court Carlyon pleaded guilty to fraud, with his solicitor Brad Skuse describing the crime as “amateur offending at best”.

Mr Skuse submitted that his client was financially struggling at the time and the fraud was a way of obtaining “quick easy cash”.

Magistrate Kay Philipson ordered Carlyon perform 40 hours community service, as well as repay the victim $750 in restitution, with no conviction recorded.

“You might well have been going through some financial difficulty but that’s no excuse to put someone else through the same thing,” she said.