A PayPal fraudster who scammed DJs has been told to pay back his victims or face the prospect of jail.
Christopher Russell took cash from six different people as he advertised deals for DJ equipment online.
None of them received their orders - though several were sent abusive messages while he made excuses to try and cover up his crimes.
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Daniel Bramhall, prosecuting, said Russell would ask buyers to send him money over PayPal, convincing them to part with at least some of their cash before receiving equipment.
One victim, targeted in November 2019, “reluctantly agreed” to transfer £350 of a £700 fee for a Pioneer CDR device, saying he would only commit to sending the rest of the money on completion of the deal.
Mr Bramhall said: “It became apparent to him that the defendant wasn’t a genuine seller as the defendant was unable to provide evidence he had the items in the first place.”
Russell eventually blocked the man on social media.
In a separate scam he tricked a buyer into sending £700 for a DJ Controller advertised over GumTree.
Russell sent him a postal receipt then said the wrong item had accidentally been sent in the post. The victim became suspicious when that item was a USB stick he considered far too small to have been confused for the equipment he had paid for.
A female victim conned out of £800 said that she had a series of exchanges with Russell as she attempted to get her money back and that “he seemed to enjoy the whole process”.
Victims also described receiving messages from Russell that were “repulsive, abusive and horrible to read” as they tried to recover their losses.
In total the 37-year-old, who had four previous convictions for five offences, took nearly £4,000 from his victims.
Kate Morley, defending, said her client’s strongest mitigation was that he had pleaded guilty to the six counts of fraud by false representation against him.
She told Liverpool Crown Court : “It is conceded that whilst, obviously, the offences are distressing, they are also mean, playing on people’s good faith and effectively sabotaging their faith in people.”
Ms Morley said Russell, of Cornwood Close in Belle Vale, was ashamed of his actions and wished to apologise, through her, to his victims.
The court heard the dad had taken action to deal with some of the issues that may have contributed to his offences and that he had the ability to pay back the money taken through the scams.
When asked by the judge, Louise Brandon, why he had not already returned the money, it was said that he had wanted to but had been told he would need to wait until the end of proceedings before he could do so.
Judge Brandon deferred passing sentence for two months, until April 8, and told Russell: “On that day you are going to come back to the court and I am going to sentence you.”
She said that if he had not repaid his victims and dealt with other outstanding matters by that time then she would have “no choice” but to consider sending him to jail.
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