Birmingham man who scammed elderly victims jailed after original sentence appealed

A Birmingham man who used an elaborate smishing scam to con six elderly women out of more than £30,000 while he was under a suspended sentence for a similar offence, has now been jailed.

Mohammed Gulzar, of Nora Road, Birmingham, sent ‘smishing’ messages to his victims across Derbyshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia and Hampshire. The type of cyberattack uses deceptive texts to trick them into surrendering sensitive data including their passwords and bank details.

A court heard how he convinced the vulnerable victims he was their bank to get them to handover personal details, gain access to their accounts, and even persuaded them to part with their physical bank cards, and PIN numbers.

He even sent an Uber to collect the victim's cards for onward use by him, whilst making them think he was the bank and was protecting their assets.

For one victim alone, an overdraft of almost £5,000 had been spent, and a loan for £11,500 taken out.

In their victim impact statements, the women explained how they were left feeling shaken and upset, unsafe in their own homes, taken advantage of, and left treating everything with suspicion.

Gulza, who was under a suspended sentence for a similar offence at the time of his arrest in July 2024. He was charged with conspiracy to defraud his six victims in November 2025.

The 26-year-old originally pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea at a hearing earlier this year.

At his sentencing, he was given another suspended sentence but the decision was appealed. He was sentenced to four years and four months imprisonment at the Court of Appeal on Friday (September 18).

DI Richard Cornell, who oversees the EMSOU PECT team, said: "When we arrested Gulzar, he was soundly asleep in bed. He got up and the phone he used to contact his victims, along with his personal phone, were conveniently tucked underneath him and were quickly seized by the team.

"This is some of the worst offending I've seen in my career. Gulzar managed to get access to thousands of pounds, and continued to offend despite having previously been convicted for similar offences, and was under a suspended sentence when he scammed these women.

“This was the driving factor which made us work with the CPS to appeal the second suspended sentence he received earlier this year. It just wasn’t enough of a deterrent for him.

"I'm pleased the Judge has now given him a custodial sentence, meaning he will be unable to take advantage of vulnerable people. We will now be seeking to impose a confiscation order of £33,000 to help recover his ill-gotten-gains.”