A mother faces jail time after she was caught stealing the identities of 58 Aussies in a cunning buy ielts/toefl english test certificates online-now, pay-later scam – and then using their money to live a lavish life.
Carly Davidson, 36, from Sydney’s south, has admitted to a raft of fraud offences after embarking on a massive shopping spree between June 2019 and February 2021.
For almost two years, during the peak of the Covid pandemic, Davidson collected people’s identity information including their names, date of births, residential addresses and driver’s licences.
She then used the data to create accounts with pay-it-later companies. She took out lines of credit in her victims’ names on services including Afterpay, Zip Pay, LatitudePay, Openpay and Humm.
She then embarked on a $19,376 shopping blitz with the money spent on injectable cosmetics, Ikea furniture, jewellery, massage devices, a 55inch television, Menulog deliveries, shoes, Airbnb stays, rideshare services and even pet food.
The sophisticated scam saw Davidson use more than 100 fake phone numbers to receive verification texts and emails using her victims’ information.
Carly Davidson (pictured left) has admitted to scamming tens of thousands of dollars from pay-it-later companies and 58 victims
When police raided her unit in Malabar, in Sydney’s south, in February 2021, they found a haul of Davidson’s stolen goods.
They also found a toolbox containing 96 SIM cards and two pieces of paper filled with credit card details and identity information.
In a text exchange found on a recovered phone, she posed as one of her victims ‘Janet’ – to send a pay-it-later employee date of birth details and a confirmation code to finish setting up an account.
When Daily Mail Australia confronted Davidson outside a community corrections office this week, she refused to discuss her crimes or issue an apology to the dozens of Australians she scammed.
She only uttered ‘no comment’ before walking inside the building.
THE SCHEME
Police facts obtained by Daily Mail Australia reveal Davidson – an unemployed mother on government payments – systematically planned her web of fraudulent activity by mixing and matching the details of various victims to make her illegal purchases.
Many of Davidsons 58 victims had no idea their information had been stolen and used to take out credit which could affect their chances of securing home or car loans.
Buy-now-pay-later loans can negatively impact applicants’ credit score if they fail to make payments or open too many accounts, potentially affecting future lending capacity.
Davidson is pictured clutching a coke and a vape outside Community Corrections on Wednesday
Pictured: A recreation of a text exchange Davidson engaged in to create a line of credit
It remains unclear how Davidson managed to get a hold of victims’ driving licences and bank card details, some of which were later found stashed at her home.
Some victims led to her obtaining thousands of dollars in cash – with her top three victims garnering her credit lines of $4,094.90, $3,296.68 and $2,882.95.
Over the course of her offending period, Davidson set up at least one new line of credit almost every month using her victims’ personal data, and accrued $15,240 alone between 3 January and 28 January, 2020.
The pay-it-later account from Davidson’s most profitable victim ($4,094.90) was set up in December 2019 – just as the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread across the world.
However, it wasn’t until 10 months later – in October 2020 – that she began using the account to spend $1,370 on Prouds jewellery, $734 on a Dyson vacuum, as well as $1,861.90 on products from Harvey Norman.
While Davidson waited before using her biggest credit line, she continued to spend other victims’ money throughout early 2020, engaging in several binge shops in January, March, April, May and June.
A second victim was the unknowing sponsor of a two-day $1,693.99 spending blitz in April that year, which saw Davidson fork out $899.99 at an injectables clinic, $126.89 on Menulog, $612.30 on Airbnb and $54.81 on an Ola cab.
In May 2020, Davidson used one of her victims’ details to purchase two massage devices from The Good Guys in Tempe (pictured)
She was also captured on security footage lugging two 3kg bags of special dietary dog food from the above vet clinic in Matraville
On some occasions she enlisted workers on Airtasker by using an account listed under the name ‘Lisa K’ which was one of her victims. Workers delivered larger items such as electronics and furniture to her unit.
In May 2020, she purchased a two-seater lounge and a queen-sized bed from Ikea, in Tempe, using Humm credit she had obtained via a fourth victim.
She then paid an Airtasker $154 (as well as a $20 tip) to have it delivered, using the financial details of a fifth victim who was a NSW Police officer.
The furniture haul was part of a two-week splurge courtesy of the Detective Sergeant which also included a $78 pizza order, $157 worth of Afterpay credit used on shoes from Athletes Foot, and $164.60 on dog food from a local vet.
CCTV footage later retrieved from the vet showed Davidson walking out with two 3kg bags of Royal Canin Anallegernic dog food which is prescribed for pets with severe adverse food reactions.
Her shopping frenzy continued into the following year, with one of her last victims being robbed of $3,296.68 in January 2021 after Davidson created a fake email address and Zip Pay account in her name.
Davidson racked up the hefty bill in just four day with purchases at Coles ($638 and $98.79 each), Bunnings Warehouse ($547.30), Michael Hill ($1,399), Prouds ($500), Deliveroo ($7.78 and $75 each) and on a taxi fare ($30.81).
Court documents show Davidson showed no signs of slowing down her operation in the weeks before her February 2021, having registered five new phone numbers under different people’s names.
Between January and February, Davidson used another six victims to set up lines of credits.
THE RAIDS
Davidson has pleaded guilty to dozens of fraud offences and with one count of possessing drugs
In February 2021, police raided her Malabar home and found a treasure trove of items including four SIM cards, 14 gift cards, a Samsung phone, Sony TV, lounge set, Dulux paint, several pairs of shoes, perfumes, a Michael Kors watch, and sheet sets.
A number of electronic devices were also seized including two Apple iPhones, Bauhn headphones, two sets of Apple Airpods, two OPPO phones, a Swann security camera, a Sony speaker, a Sony Cybershot camera, and Turbosound speakers.
In her main bedroom, police also discovered a safe containing two resealable bags containing 2.28g of methamphetamine, a gold chain, and six mobile phones.
