Funny: Girl Attempts To Swindle Pocket Money From Dad With Forged Speeding Fines

Elizabeth Kay-Devine, from Lancashire, UK

One young girl from England has attempted to swindle her dad for pocket money by sending him forged speeding fines

Elizabeth Kay-Devine, from Lancashire, UK was just six years old when she came up with the precocious and ingenious scam.

On her first attempt in her devious money-making scheme, she sent her dad a phoney speeding fine complete with the cars registration number, location of the incident, and even the council logo.

Elizabeth was apparently inspired to come up with the forged fine notice after seeing a similar fine turn up for one of the drivers at her dad's company.

Her dad, Paul Kay, 46 and her step-mum, Helen Boardman, 43, said they were almost deceived by the original letter which was addressed from Rossendale Borough Council. She said:

"It nearly worked. If she had put the bank details on, then we may well have paid it.

"But thankfully she didn't put anywhere to put your bank details in or any phone number or anything, so that gave it away."

The only downfall in the little girl's scheme was that she did not set up her own fraudulent council bank account to complete the ruse.

Even though she was rumbled at just six years of age, Elizabeth, now eleven, has persisted with the scam for the past five years.

Comically, she has been sending numerous supposed fines from various different councils. Now 11-years-old, her most recent letter was addressed from Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council and was complete with a letterhead, demanding that £100 be paid within 10 days, otherwise, the fee would rise to £150. Her stepmother said:

"She keeps doing it, she must have done it about five times.

"She does it from different councils each time. They have got better as the years have gone on.

"It all depends on which council logo she gets and how good it looks.

"It is quite shocking that someone so young knows to get the right council logo and so on. There is a good level of detail.

"She's very computer-savvy. She good at doing stuff like that. She is very clever."

Elizabeth’s parents, Paul and Helen run an office photocopier sales company and this is where she creates her fake fine notices, before posting them in the company's letterbox. Fortunately, her parents and other staff members are now wise to the scam and are used to her antics.

It's only a matter of time before a real fine comes in and they actually ignore it, thinking it is not a legitimate speeding ticket.

Author

Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader in automotive intelligence and vehicle data supply to the entire motor industry. He has almost 20 years experience in building systems from the ground up. As the Managing Director of Vehicle Management System, he understands the need and importance of trustworthy and reliable vehicle history and advice to both the trade and the public.
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