A bank employee in Scotland stole £75,000 from bank customers after involving himself with a crime gang from a dark web forum.
Dayne Lynn, a 22-year-old from North Ayrshire, became interested in the dark web after watching a Netflix documentary, presumably Dark Net.
He decided to see with his own eyes if what he'd seen in the documentary was true, so he downloaded the Tor Browser Bundle and searched for different forums on the dark web.
Lynn joined an internet chat forum, where he made the mistake of revealing some personal details.
Among other things, Lynn shared information about his role on the fraud team at Lloyds Bank in Glasgow's Atlantic Quay.
The young man was working as a member of a team that investigates fraudulent payments and transfers, where he had access to the accounts of various bank customers that had been flagged for security reasons.
The "mystery crime gang" on this dark web forum eventually ordered him to swindle from two accounts and transfer the money to them.
Lynn's defense attorney argued in the Glasgow Sheriff's Court hearing that the accused wouldn't have committed fraud if the gang had not uncovered his identity, and at one point, Lynn himself said that he did it because he had been threatened by them.
Darknet Criminals Compel Lynn to Make Bank Transfers
On July 18, 2016, between 7:45 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Lynn had accessed 19 customer accounts with no permission or legitimate reason.
Two of the accounts that were accessed belonged to Timothy Evans and Stuart Bryce. Just after 11:30 a.m., Lynn transferred £25,000 from Evans' account to another man.
Less than half an hour later, he tried to transfer £25,000 from Evans' account to another account, but the transfer was denied because it had exceeded the daily transfer allowance.
Later on in the day, Lynn made a transfer from £24,600 from Bryce's account to one under reference "Prestige Boats," but this account was frozen due to suspicious activity.
Internal investigators suspected Lynn right off the bat, because he used his Lloyds Bank employee credentials to access the accounts.
When questioned, he denied any responsibility. After a whole year when Lynn was questioned again, he refused to answer any questions, and the bank called the police.
The Judgement: Lynn Avoids Jail Time
Lynn pleaded guilty to embezzlement while acting with others.
Sheriff Martin Jones QC said that the only thing stopping him from going to prison is that nobody lost any money, due to the bank reversing all of the cash.
He ordered Lynn to 18 months of community service under the conditions that he is supervised, carries out 240 hours of unpaid work and stays in his set bail address between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. for six months.
