A PAIR of fraudsters tried to dupe a city shop into giving them a refund for a faulty iPhone.

Pharmacy student Mohammed Asaf and 46-year-old Mohammed Riaz pleaded guilty to committing fraud at an Argos store, in Worcester, on August 6.

Mark Sheward, defending, said: "The week before this incident he [Asaf] went up [to Manchester] and bought some faulty phones.

"Whilst he was there the man he was buying from told him about this scam.

"I think this was opportunistic in some ways. This wasn't a majorly planned operation."

Asaf, aged 23, who has no previous convictions, originally intended to sell the faulty phones for parts, the court heard.

The student had been buying and selling devices for the last couple of years to get himself through university.

Asaf and Riaz, who has a previous conviction for mortgage fraud, attempted the scam but were caught straight away, according to his solicitor.

Mr Sheward added that the pair accepted responsibility for their actions and were honest with police.

Roger Bleazard, prosecuting, said one of the defendants went into Argos, while the other man waited outside in a vehicle.

Staff at the store saw through the scam after learning about a similar incident in Solihull on the same day.

They called police officers, who stopped the pair and searched their vehicle, discovering defective phones, cables, receipts and other items.

Asaf, of Alder Street, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, who is currently on a gap year and working as a carer, has to pay a £153 fine, £185 court costs and £30 victim surcharge.

Riaz, of Silver Glade, Glasgow, who is currently unemployed but due to start work at his family's grocery business, was ordered to pay a £192 fine, £185 in court costs and a £30 victim surcharge.