Woman in court after Kilkenny man loses €2,000 in text message scam

A woman has appeared before Kilkenny District Court charged with money laundering for her part in a phone text scam that saw someone have €2,000 taken from their bank account.

Megan Carey, 51 Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to the charge, which was committed at a location unknown in the Kilkenny District Court area.

The court heard that on August 7, 2023, the injured party had received a text message to say their bank account had been compromised due to the use of a card.

Clicked link
The injured party thought there was a risk to their account, clicked on a link in the message and followed directions.
Later that day €2,000 was taken from their account and lodged into the account of Ms Carey.
She then transferred the money on to another account.

She was paid €300 for allowing her account to be used for the process.
Ms Carey cooperated with the garda investigation and admitted her role.

Solicitor Joe Farrell said his client had made admissions to gardaí in an interview. She had no previous convictions, he added.
This transaction came about when Ms Carey was asked by someone she was already in contact with if she wanted to make some money. Mr Farrell said his client is of limited income but will try to collect some money in compensation if the court wished.

Judge Geraldine Carthy said the nature of the offence was one of the more serious matters she would be dealing with and told Ms Carey she would be leaving the court with a conviction.

Probation Service
The judge said she would give Ms Carey time to engage with the Probation Service and to gather money to offer as repayment to the injured party.
The matter was adjourned to a court sitting on May 13.