A conman posed as a member of a notorious Scots crime family to extort cash from a teenager who sent him explicit images. Steven Adams, 34, targeted the 19-year-old student and his family at his address in Glasgow in September 2018.
The victim sent Adams sexualised pictures on social media which he later kept and used as bargaining power. Adams, of Hamilton, pretended to be a member of the crime clan in order to demand money.
Adams then contacted the victim's sisters - and one of their online business pages - ordering the teen to get in touch. The terrified teen sent £250 to the scammer and ignored threats for a further £1,000.
Adams pled guilty on Wednesday to two charges of extortion at Glasgow Sheriff Court. The court heard the teen contacted a woman named 'Steph' on social media on September 1, 2018.
The pair chatted for an hour every day and "exchanged sexualised images of their bodies with each other." Steph asked the teen to meet up on two occasions but he refused and continued to chat with her.
On September 10, the teen received messages from Steph's 'boyfriend' and 'husband'. One read: "Think you are smart wee man? Wonder what your friends will think when I put this on Facebook...I'm going away £500 into my bank and we will leave it at that."
The teen said he was unable to pay the amount.
Prosecutor Hannah Terrance said: "During the conversation, Adams stated that his name was [that of a Lyons crime clan member]. Knowing that these names were associated with members of organised crime groups, the teen began to worry that these names were who he could have potentially been messaging."
Adams then mentioned the victim's sister's name, which prompted him to send him £250 into a 'Lyons' bank account before blocking him. Adams meantime made further contact with the victim's sisters and mentioned one of their beauty therapy businesses in Glasgow city centre.
One message read: "Your brother has been having an affair with my wife and I'm not having it." The sister began receiving likes and reviews on her business page from people she did not recognise.
Messages to the sister and her page asked for the teen to "get in touch" and "great service all round my wife said." He also sent a voice note demanding £1,000. The family went to police, who traced Adams and quizzed him.
He told officers that the teen had messaged his "partner" and said that he "could have" mentioned the Lyons family while drunk. Adams added that his "partner" knew nothing about the money.
The court earlier heard that Adams carried out a similar scheme on a 28-year-old man from Glasgow who he chatted with on app 'Whisper' in October 2017. Adams used a persona with the name 'Diva Doll' to claim he had no money for food and the victim transferred £265.
The victim later sent intimate pictures of himself before he was contacted by Diva Doll's "uncle" and "father." It was claimed that Diva Doll was under age and Adams demanded £1,000 or the man would be subject to criminal investigations.
Miss Terrance said: "The man complied with this instruction." He then sent a further £1,700 after more messages of a similar kind were received. The man contacted police who were able to trace the bank account and a phone number provided in the chat to Adams.
Gregor Jarrett, defending, told the court that Adams has recovered from "a debilitating drug and alcohol addiction" since the offences. Sentence was deferred pending background reports until next month by Sheriff Matthew Jackson KC.
He told Adams: "You should be under no illusions at the very forefront of my mind is a custodial disposal and you should prepare for that." Adams had his bail continued meantime.
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