&149 Castro was a teenage credit-card thief, who was caught in 2005 after a six-year fraud spree. After his release from jail in 2006 he vowed to turn his life around and became a freelance fraud prevention consultant. Now 25, he lives in Glasgow where he also works as a DJ.
I'M NOT exactly a stereotypical gay guy, so I quite often get mistaken for being straight and girls will try and pick me up. Sometimes (when using a stolen credit card] I would go into shops and bat my eyelids at women, which made my life so much eas
ier. I'd just make sure their eyes were focused on me rather than the signature on the card.
Older women were easier to flatter, because they liked the chat and the banter. But I think women can be at least as cynical as men. My downfall in the end came about because a female shop assistant (in Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh] clocked on to me. I thought I had got away with it, but evidently I had been too cocksure at the checkout and she was suspicious of my self-confidence. I don't know if that woman was a mother, but my mum would say that all mothers develop a special sense of knowing when they're being lied to.
I never came across a woman among the other fraudsters that I got to know, but I think in many ways women could be very good at it. I've said to a couple of my female friends 'you'd make a great fraudster' because they'd be great at charming people.
I don't mean this in a bad way, but I think women are very good at making use of their assets, especially as they get older; they know what they've got.
I have about three or four female friends at the moment whom I would class as "good friends". I think there are some things that easier to talk to women about – like shopping! I love to talk about clothes and I always let my female friends know they are looking good. I think I tend to notice things like clothes more than straight men would.
I think women need compliments – everyone does – but when it comes to clothes and make-up, females are more likely to need some reassurance about how they look. The other (conversation topic] would be relationships. I do talk to my male friends about guys, but I probably wouldn't go into detail about bedroom things.
One difference between my male and female friends is that I'm far more likely to go out for lunch with female friends. I love going for a lunchtime gossip and a catch-up during the week.
In terms of style, the woman I admire the most – probably more than a particular celebrity – is one of my friends. I probably shouldn't pick just one of them, but my close friend Katya always looks great. She makes and effort and looks really classy.
As for the women in history I admire, I've always had a thing for Mother Theresa. I've read quite a lot about her and the fact that she was prepared so selflessly to dedicate her life to looking after other people; that definitely deserves such incredible respect.
I've always had huge admiration for my aunt Moira, too. She had some really hard times in her life, but she's such a good person. But for me there is only really one woman in my life and that's my mum. She's determined, feisty, smart and caring, although she will usually find something to tell me off about. After I was caught (for the credit card frauds] she was disappointed, but also understanding.
One thing my mum has always done is told me she's proud of me. I don't mean she was proud of me for stealing, but in some ways she was proud of me for being smart. More than anything, she was proud when I decided to turn my life round.
• Other People's Money: The Rise and Fall of Britain's Boldest Fraudster, by Neil Forsyth with Elliot Castro, is out now in paperback (Pan Books, £7.99)
The full article contains 704 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
