Jailed : Matthew Parkhouse was sentenced to 20 months in prison for stealing money from customer accounts while working at a Natwest call centre . A bank worker who stole a fortune from elderly customers after taking their account details over the phone was caught out when his own account rocketed from £8 to £36,000 . NatWest telephone advisor Matthew Parkhouse asked a string of account holders for the security digits on the backs of their cards when he did n't need them for legitimate banking purposes . He secretly noted the numbers down and then used them to make payments of thousands into a business account he held . Had the scam succeeded , Parkhouse would have got away with over £50,000 - instead he has been jailed for 20 months . Manchester Crown Court heard how he was employed at the bank ’ s call centre in Manchester between April 2012 and March 2014 - where he was responsible for dealing with customer accounts queries over the phone . He was rumbled in December 2013 after his own bank - Barclays - became suspicious that his savings had shot up . Parkhouse , 30 , of Hulme , Manchester had set up the Barclays account in the name of 'Megabyte Software ' , two months before he began the frauds . Prosecutor Lindsay Thomas said : 'It transpired that part of that agreement with Barclays involved allowing customers to process card payments without them being present - so long as all the card details , including the three digits on the back of the card - were presented . ' When Barclays examined the transactions they found out they had come from six different bank cards - all issued to NatWest , where Parkhouse worked . Two days after Barclays first became suspicious , Parkhouse went into the Stockport branch of Barclays and withdrew £6,000 in cash . Parkhouse blamed another 'rogue ' employee for the frauds when quizzed by bosses , but he was the only member of staff to have accessed all six of the victims ' accounts and transcripts revealed he had asked for their security digits . Fraudulent activity : The 30-year-old was employed at the bank ’ s call centre in Manchester between April 2012 and March 2014 and would ask account holders for their three digit security pin without a legitimate reason . He later admitted six fraud charges and one charge of converting criminal property . Kate Harney , defending , said the offence had 'naive ' characteristics , adding : 'This is a young man who set up a business account in his own name , to his own address , and there was a very clear audit trail within the bank . 'This is not a young man who had thought this through . ' Miss Harney said the breakdown of his parents ' marriage had caused difficulties for his mother and that Parkhouse had been hoping to help her with the cash , but ended up doing 'nothing to assist ' her . Sentencing for the 'gross breach of trust ' Recorder Suzanne Goddard QC said Parkhouse had received a good education and had 'thrown away the opportunities ' given to him . Sentencing : Speaking at Manchester Crown Court , above , Recorder Suzanne Goddard QC said Parkhouse had received a good education and had 'thrown away the opportunities ' given to him . Detective Constable Laura Watson , of GMP 's Fraud Investigation Team , said : 'Parkhouse was employed by NatWest and placed in a position of trust , dealing with customer accounts . 'He abused this trust and stole a large amount of money from mainly elderly customers and used his position for his own gain . 'Both NatWest and Barclays were quick to act and worked in partnership with the police to help us to prosecute this man . I hope today 's sentence serves the message that you will be caught and you will be prosecuted . '
Matthew Parkhouse , of Manchester , was employed at Natwest call centre . Asked string of account holders for security digits on back of their cards . Secretly noted numbers and made huge payments into his own account . Initially blamed others but customer call transcripts also caught him out . The 30-year-old was jailed for 20 months at Manchester Crown Court .