Gym goers are being warned not to use the same PIN code for their lockers and bank cards after a prolific thief targeted several gyms.
Declan Murphy, 35, stole £500 after secretly watching a man enter his locker code at a Third House gym.
He assumed the code would be the same for his victim’s phones and bank cards and broke into his accounts.
To buy time, he soaked the man’s phone in water, rendering it unusable, according to City of London police.
When the victim was finally able to call his bank, he was told that Murphy had called impersonating him and that Web had been given access to his bank accounts.
As well as stealing money directly from the account, Murphy attempted to purchase £5,400 worth of items from an Apple store.
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“Unfortunately, we know that this is a method used by prolific criminals like Murphy,” said Chief Inspector Kevin Ives of the City of London Police.
“Our message is clear: do not have the same PIN code for your locker as the PIN for your phone or bank card.”
Murphy’s victim had only joined the gym after his wife died of cancer.
The court heard the robbery increased her “sense of loneliness” as she cried.
Murphy, a qualified carpenter and father-of-two, was using membership cards under false names to access gyms Third House and Nuffield Wellbeing repeatedly, Isleworth Crown Courtroom heard.
He withdrew £1,750 from an ATM using bank cards stolen from another gym-going victim, as well as spending £92.06 at Zara using another victim’s card.
On Friday he was sentenced to two years and three months in prison, after pleading guilty to three counts of theft and 11 counts of fraud by false representation.
Murphy was also given a criminal behavior order banning him from visiting any Third House or Nuffield Wellbeing gym for six years.
