Door-to-door conman who scammed Southsea residents and a pub with 'lost key' story is jailed

A BRAZEN door-to-door scammer who repeatedly posed as a new neighbour in need of taxi money to go and collect a spare key has been jailed for 10 weeks.
Jailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, jokes outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John HarveyJailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, jokes outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John Harvey
Jailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, jokes outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John Harvey

Conman Mark Yeganeh of South Parade, Southsea, took advantage of Good Samaritans who gave him up to £40 a time when he lied about losing the key to his fictitious new home.

The 52-year-old then pocketed the cash instead of hiring a taxi to collect a spare, as he told residents he would in a ‘sob story' he took across Southsea.

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Jailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, jokes outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John HarveyJailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, jokes outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John Harvey
Jailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, jokes outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John Harvey
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Sly Yeganeh duped John Harvey and a neighbour, of Napier Road, into parting with £25 with the roaming scam in April.

In all he took £187 from his elderly and vulnerable victims.

It is understood police launched enquiries into the fraud after the scam was revealed in CCTV footage, above, in a News appeal that reached thousands.

‘I’m very pleased – I don’t feel so stupid knowing this happened to other people,' said 68-year-old John on Yeganeh's conviction.

Jailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John HarveyJailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John Harvey
Jailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, outside victim John Harvey's Napier Road home with his unsuspecting neighbour as he conned them out of £25 in April. Picture: John Harvey
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‘Abusing people's trust was obviously his modus operandi because it soon became clear he was doing this all over Southsea.

‘It needed to be stopped and the police have done an excellent job. I was surprised he got as much as 10 weeks.’

To make his story more plausible, Yeganeh targeted people near neighbouring homes with signs saying they had just been sold or let.

He also swindled bosses at The Phoenix pub in Duncan Road out of £25 in May, before being spotted by staff when he later returned.

Jailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, scopes out victim John Harvey's Napier Road home before conning him and a neighbour out of £25 in April. Picture: John HarveyJailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, scopes out victim John Harvey's Napier Road home before conning him and a neighbour out of £25 in April. Picture: John Harvey
Jailed door-to-door scammer Mark Yeganeh, of South Parade, Southsea, scopes out victim John Harvey's Napier Road home before conning him and a neighbour out of £25 in April. Picture: John Harvey
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Landlord Kath Birch, 54, said Yeganeh told staff who interrogated him ‘it was his brother’, before leaving and never returning.

‘It's hard enough to run a pub these days without people doing things as disgusting as that,' said Kath, the pub's boss of 17 years.

‘He said it was his brother, then said “I’m sorry, I'll go and get the money for you" – like we were going to believe that.'

Yeganeh was sentenced for six frauds on September 4 and was told to pay £187 at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court.

He admitted six counts of fraud by false representation.