'Wicked' conman ran £1m bank scam from his luxury Salford flat... until he made a drunken mistake

A fraudster who orchestrated a '"sophisticated" £1 million banking scam from a plush Salford flat apartment was caught out after he drunkenly gave his own name whilst posing as a suspected victim.

"Wicked" conman Azeem Mohammed, 33, played a "leading role" in the "ruthless" enterprise which targeted elderly people over the phone.

Masquerading as a fraud investigator at various high street banks, Mohammed told the often frail victims that their accounts and money were at risk and that they were trying to help them.

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"No one knows" how the scammers obtained the "initial information" including the victims' names, addresses and the amounts of money they had. However, a judge said it was a :'reasonable conclusion" that it somehow came "from inside the banks themselves."

The group used a number of elaborate rouses, including using various phone numbers manned by different members of the group - and fake bank websites - to convince them they were genuine.

When in fact they were "manipulating" and "controlling" them. The victims were called repeatedly and kept on the phone for hours to create a sense of urgency and put them under "relentless pressure."

They were tricked into handing over personal information; sending copies of ID documents; buying mobile phones; installing software on their laptops which allowed fraudsters to 'take control'; setting up new bank accounts; and transferring huge sums - often their life savings - to new accounts.

They were also urged not to contact their bank or inform their family "out of fear that it would cause them more