Rip Off Britain presenter Gloria Hunniford was ripped off herself for £120,000 by a fraudster posing as the elderly star.
A plump elderly woman presented herself at Santander branch in Croydon North End claiming to be the 76-year-old Loose Women star.
She brandished ID and a bank card in the name of Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford demanding her 'grandson' become an extra signatory on the account.
Personal banker Aysha Davis, 28, told a court she took her at her word because she did not realise Ms Hunniford is in fact a famous TV star.
Ms Davis was on trial after being accused of being part of the plot but was acquitted after less than 30 minutes of jury deliberation after she admitted the TV star was ‘not of my time.’
Prosecutor Sheilagh Davies at the Old Bailey said: 'As my Lord saw from the CCTV and better quality stills, she looked really nothing like the rather more glamorous and better presented Ms Hunniford, which perhaps those who watch TV are familiar with.'
Gloria Hunniford, 76, (pictured left) TV presenter for Rip Off Britain had £120,000 stolen by fraudster who pretended to be her in a Santander bank (right)
Ms David told the court the woman told her she had ‘a few bob’ in there and had come to add the teenager as a signatory because she had been ill.
She then helped them complete the paperwork, including photocopying their driving licences.
Police are still hunting for the ‘lookalike’ and her ‘daughter’, while stand-in grandson Alan Dowie, 18, who faced jail has now been spared by the judge to go to university.
Reyon Dillon, 18, of Croydon who laundered some of the cash from the scam will be sentenced on 7 September.
Reyon Dillon, 18, from Croydon pleaded guilty to laundering some of the cash from the scam
The court heard Santander have reimbursed the money stolen from Ms Hunniford’s account after it was drained of £120,000.
Giving evidence, Davis said she had never met Dowie before he walked into the bank and had to google TV star Ms Hunniford - who regularly appears on ‘This Morning’ and ‘The One Show’ - to find out who she was.
‘The name on the ID card was Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, and sorry to be stereotypical but this lady looked like a Mary,’ she told jurors.
‘I had to google Gloria Hunniford and even if I passed her on the street I wouldn’t recognise her because she’s not from my time.’
Prosecutor Sheilagh Davies said: ‘But she’s pretty famous.’
Jurors giggled when the defendant replied: ‘In your opinion.’
Do you recognise this woman believed to have posed as the 'daughter' of the TV star 'lookalike' who fooled a bank worker she was famous
But Ms Davies told the court: 'This was a fraud that was perpetrated on the account held by the TV personality Gloria Hunniford at the Santander bank.
But Ms Davies told the court: 'This was a fraud that was perpetrated on the account held by the TV personality Gloria Hunniford at the Santander bank.
'They were a middle aged lady, who purported to be the real Gloria Hunniford but the bank account was held in the name of Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford and the woman presented herself as Mary.
'She was later to produce a driving licence in the name of Mary Hunniford, which the Crown allege was fake.
'With that lady was another woman of around 40 years of age and with this defendant, Alan Dowie, they attended by prior arrangement and were seen by the personal banker Aysha Davis.
'They were taken to her office and there was an arrangement to add Alan Dowie to the account of Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford.
'It was presented as a fact that he was her grandson of the lady who had attended purporting to be Ms Hunniford.
'She said she had "quite a few bob" in her account and she was not in good health.
'She wanted her grandson to enjoy the benefits of the very substantial funds she held in that account.'
The court heard that within 90 minutes the first tranche of £19,000 was paid into Dowie's bank account and over the course of the day a total of £102,000 had been drained.
Another payment of £18,940 was paid into the account of Dillon.
'When the money started to filter through into his account he, and others, went on a shopping spree,' said the prosecutor.
Some £429 was spent at a branch of Zara while a massive £80,000 was spent on Rolex watches, one costing just under £30,000.
The prosecutor said it was ironic that Ms Hunniford presented consumer complaints programme ‘Rip Off Britain.’
Personal banker Aysha Davis, 28, (pictured) admitted she didn't know who the TV star was despite her being on programmes like The One Show and Loose Women
Davis said she had spent the morning doing paperwork, before going to the cash desk to book customers in for meetings about opening new accounts.
She then went to the main banking hall to help any customers who had not yet joined a queue and looked like they needed help.
CCTV footage shows Davis approaching a black male to ask him if he needs assistance, before speaking to the three fraudsters.
‘The lady said “I’ve come to add my grandson to my account” she said she had “a few bob” in there and that she’d been ill.
‘The old lady had her bank card and her driving licence - it’s not rare people wanting to add someone to their account, so this was just the same as always.’
When asked if she would recognise Gloria Hunniford, she replied: ‘I didn’t recognise her or I would have done something about it. I wouldn’t have gone ahead with the transaction.’
She said she had passed both driving licences under the UV scanner and both had illuminated correctly and then photocopied them.
‘I had never seen these people in my life before - I had no part in what I am accused of.
'Banks get defrauded every day but because of the high profile of the person on the account, I am being used as a scapegoat to try and repair the damage to the bank’s reputation.
Ironically Ms Hunniford (pictured) is a presenter of Rip Off Britain a programme that helps warn viewers of scams
‘I was three months pregnant at the time and the only thing I was focused on was the pregnancy.’
She continued: ‘I spoke to the black male before and if he had said I want to open an account, would have taken him up to my office.’
The prosecutor said: ‘The account had a significant cash balance, the boy was clearly young, only 17, did you not question it?’
Davis continued: ‘I asked the older lady “How come you’re adding your grandson and not your daughter?” she said she’d been ill and she wanted to add her grandson.
‘I’m a working class person and I don’t see that kind of money every day, but some people you think would have lots of money have nothing, and some people who you think wouldn’t have much have quite a lot.’
She said that as they had all the correct ID documents and paperwork it wasn’t her job to pry for fear of causing offence.
Jurors were told that one of the forms was missing, but Davis said: ‘If I was purposefully doing something wrong I would have done everything right to cover my back.
‘Just because I made a mistake and I would have gotten into trouble at work it doesn’t implicate me in this fraud.’
Davis, of Streatham High Road, south London, denied one count of conspiracy to defraud.
Dowie, of Oxted, Surrey, has already pleaded guilty to the same charge.
But today was given a suspended sentence for his role in the scam.
Dowie was caught after 102,000 was funnelled into his bank account before his card was used to blow hundreds of pounds on clothes and £80,000 on Rolex watches.
He told police he had been recruited by a pal called ‘Timmy’ to go into the bank with a woman pretending to be his grandmother and another posing as his aunt.
The teenager, has just completed his A-Levels, achieving grades allowing him the choice to attend Sussex or Swansea University.
His barrister, Richard Merz, said: ‘Alan Dowie was taken for a ride almost as much as the bank itself.’
Handing Dowie an 18-month term of detention, suspended for two years, Judge Timothy Pontius said he accepted the youngster was a ‘dupe’ in the scam.
The judge told him: ‘You were the supposed grandson of the Gloria Hunniford look-alike - or look-not-very-much-alike.
He continued: ‘You achieved nothing accept your arrest and criminal conviction which will be on your record for many years.
‘You received not a penny piece out of it. It was a totally unprofitable venture as well as it being a thoroughly stupid one.
‘I therefore hope you have learned a very salutary lesson.'
He added: ‘You are not going inside today. I don’t think it would be right to deprive you of a golden opportunity to go to university, get a degree and pursue a productive, honest life in your chosen career.’
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