A man has been banned from several health and fitness centers and sentenced to 27 months in prison after stealing gym members’ locker pins and using them to hack into their bank accounts, authorities said.
Declan Murphy, of Bromley, England, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and 11 counts of fraud by false representation on Friday, January 17, according to an official statement from the City of London Police.
Authorities also said Murphy, 35, had been placed under a “punitive behavior order,” which “bans him from entering certain gyms around the country.”
The City of London Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional comment on Sunday, Jan. 19.
According to authorities, Murphy stopped at a London gym on September 13, 2024, between 8:10 and 9:25 a.m. local time, when he noticed a fellow gym member taking a four-digit needle into his locker.
Murphy then used the pin to open the man’s locker and also correctly guessed that the four digits were the man’s phone and bank card PIN, according to police.
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Murphy then stole the man’s bank cards and “soaked the victim’s phone, rendering it unusable,” the statement said.
The victim later returned to his locker to find that his cards had been stolen, and he was unable to immediately contact his bank or card companies, or track his card transactions through his banking apps, due to the damage to his phone.
Police said the tactic gave Murphy a “greater opportunity” to commit his crimes.
Credit cards in wallet (photo).
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Murphy then withdrew £500 in cash (about $609) from a nearby ATM. On the same day, he tried to buy goods worth 5,400 pounds (about $6,575) at an Apple Store, but the transaction was declined, police said.
According to authorities, Murphy committed two similar crimes earlier in June. During the September event, he was released on bail.
Murphy, police added, used membership cards under false names to gain access to multiple chain gyms.
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The Guardian reported that the sentencing judge in the case, Edward Connell, described Murphy’s crimes as “premeditated” and “well rehearsed.”
Kevin Ines, Detective Chief Inspector and head of the City of London Police’s Criminal Investigations and Victims of Crime Unit, has since urged gym-goers to take note of the case and be careful with their personal pins.
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Women in the gym (photo).
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“People who visit gyms expect their belongings to be safe in their lockers and they don’t expect someone to look over their shoulder and steal their PIN. “Unfortunately, we know this is a method used by prolific criminals like Murphy,” he said in an official statement from the London Police.
“Our message is clear: Do not have the same PIN code for your locker as the PIN code of your phone or bank card,” added Ines.
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Source: HIS Education