Gloria Hunniford ‘lookalike’ posed as Rip Off Britain presenter to steal £120,000 from her Santander account

A GLORIA Hunniford "look-a-like" has scammed the Rip Off Britain presenter out of £120,000, after walking into a bank posing as the TV legend before emptying her account.

The "doppelganger" duped Santander cashier Aysha Davis who "wouldn't recognise" Hunniford because "she's not of my time".

The fake Hunniford, who is still on the run, arrived at the branch with her "daughter" and "grandson" and told Ms Davis she had a "few bob" in her account.

The fraudster added that she wanted to add her teenage grandson as a signatory because she had been ill.

Ms Davis then helped them complete the paperwork at the Croydon North End branch.

The cashier was initially accused of being part of the plot but was acquitted after less than 30 minutes of jury deliberation.

Police are still hunting for the "look-a-like" and her "daughter'" while stand-in grandson Alan Dowie, 18, faces jail.

Giving evidence, Ms Davis has told how she had to do a Google search to find out who Hunniford is.

She also had to do a Google search to find out who Hunniford is.

She told jurors: "The name on the ID card was Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, and sorry to be stereotypical but this lady looked like a Mary.

"I had to Google Gloria Hunniford and even if I passed her on the street I wouldn't recognise her because she's not from my time."

Prosecutor Sheilagh Davies said: "But she's pretty famous."

Jurors giggled when the defendant replied: "In your opinion.";

The prosecutor said it was ironic Hunniford presented consumer complaints programme 'Rip Off Britain.'

Dowie will be sentenced alongside Reyon Dillon, also 18, who laundered some of the cash from the scam.

The court heard Santander have reimbursed the money stolen from Ms Hunniford's account after it was drained of £120,000.

Ms Davis said she had spent the morning doing paperwork, before going to the cash desk to book customers in for meetings about opening new accounts.

She then went to the main banking hall to help any customers who had not yet joined a queue and looked like they needed help.

CCTV footage shows the cashier approaching a man to ask him if he needs assistance before speaking to the three fraudsters.

Ms Davis: "The lady said "I've come to add my grandson to my account" she said she had "a few bob" in there and that she'd been ill.

"The old lady had her bank card and her driving licence - it's not rare people wanting to add someone to their account, so this was just the same as always."

Ms Davis said she had passed both driving licences under the UV scanner and both had illuminated correctly and then photocopied them.

She added: "Banks get defrauded every day but because of the high profile of the person on the account, I am being used as a scapegoat to try and repair the damage to the bank's reputation.

"I was three months pregnant at the time and the only thing I was focused on was the pregnancy."

She continued: "I spoke to the black male before and if he had said I want to open an account, would have taken him up to my office."

The prosecutor said: "The account had a significant cash balance, the boy was clearly young, only 17, did you not question it?"

Ms Davis continued: "I asked the older lady 'How come you're adding your grandson and not your daughter?' she said she'd been ill and she wanted to add her grandson.

"I'm a working class person and I don't see that kind of money every day, but some people you think would have lots of money have nothing, and some people who you think wouldn't have much have quite a lot."

The cashier added that they tricksters all had the correct ID documents and paperwork it wasn't her job to pry for fear of causing offence.

Jurors were told that one of the forms was missing, but Davis said: "If I was purposefully doing something wrong I would have done everything right to cover my back.

"Just because I made a mistake and I would have gotten into trouble at work it doesn't implicate me in this fraud."

Alan Dowie, of Hazelwood Road, Oxted, Surrey, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud.

Reyon Dillon from Croydon pleaded guilty to money laundering.

They will be sentenced later today.