A former rave organiser who was dubbed the 'King of Acid House' in the 1980s later turned to fraud - building this bizarre contraption to help him access victims' bank accounts.

Tony Muldowney-Colston was behind some of Britain's most infamous all-night raves three decades ago, before the scene was shutdown due to rampant drug use.

The self-styled 'anarcho-capitalist', who also uses the surname Colston-Hayter, then became a cyber fraudster, masterminding a £1.25m cyber bank heist which saw him jailed for five and half years in 2014.

But after his release from prison, the now-53-year-old soon returned to con artistry, this time creating a bizarre machine from a card reader and voice-altering equipment.

Detectives were astonished by the wacky-looking construction when they raided a property linked to the fraudster, and were even more surprised to discover that it worked.

A fraudster built this bizarre contraption to help him gain access to victims' bank accounts. Police were shocked to discover the machine actually worked. It altered Muldowney–Colston’s voice to match the age and gender of a genuine bank customer. It also had the capability of playing pre-recorded bank messages

Muldowney-Colston used the machine as part of a plot which saw him access £500,000 in victim's bank accounts, and for which he was packed off back to jail this week.

In his previous con, for which he was jailed in 2014, Muldowney-Colston led a gang who planted a hi-tech computer hacking device in a bank to empty high value accounts.

Tony Muldowney-Colston has now been sent back to jail for fraud-related offences

They used a keyboard video mouse (KVM) device - which costs as little as £10 and is popular with suspicious partners hoping to catch their cheating spouses - to take control of multiple computer systems and transmit information remotely.

Six high-worth accounts were emptied, with the University of Portsmouth and the London Metropolitan University among the victims.

After his release Muldowney-Colston was soon back to his old ways - but this time with his home-made machine.

It was used it to contact victims and convince them he was a member of staff at their bank.

Amazingly, experts from the Met's Digital Communications and Cyber Laboratory confirmed the device actually worked.

Officers also seized a hard drive containing details of passports and identity cards, 32 credit cards, and a spreadsheet containing names, addresses, e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

In his younger days, Muldowney-Colston handcuffed himself to Jonathan Ross on live TV in what he called at the time 'a protest on behalf of the freedom to dance campaign'

How did rave king's 'fraud machine' work? Police say the weird-looking device was used to alter Muldowney–Colston's voice to match the age and gender of a genuine customer when he contacted banks. It also had the capability of playing pre-recorded bank messages. Muldowney–Colston told detectives he created the machine to gain access to genuine customer accounts and spirit away cash. Scotland Yard's Digital Communications and Cyber Laboratory confirmed the machine did what Muldowney–Colston said it did. Incredibly, Muldowney–Colston used a similar system to fox police during his rave-organising days. Rave-goers would ring a phone number at which a recorded message on an answering machine would give them random locations around the M25. It would then be updated to reveal the final venue. Advertisement

Detective Inspector Philip McInerney from the Met Police's Cyber Crime Unit (MPCCU) said: 'The scam carried out by Muldowney-Colston affected hundreds of people across the UK, and had the potential to affect many more..

'He is an audacious criminal who only recently was released from prison for carrying out very similar offences.

'He shows no concern for the welfare of any individual or organisation, and has made it clear he will use a range of methods to achieve significant financial gain for himself.

Muldowney-Colston was once a a successful professional gambler, astounded teachers by passing a special O-level in fruit machine technology aged just 16. He once raked in £23,000 a day before he was banned from every casino in Britain.

Muldowney-Colston travelled to Hong Kong in 2003 where he set up an engineering company which produced a component for a Formula One car.

But when he moved back to Britain to marry and start a young family, police believe he became an accomplished fraudster.

Muldowney-Colston gained notoriety in the late 1980s for organising huge all-night raves

Jailing him for 20 months for his latest fraud, Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC said: 'You were released on licence from a five and a half year sentence for fraud.

'In July 2016 you then had a significant period where you complied with your licence but you then returned to fraudulent behavior.

'Over a period of months and with a very significant degree of planning you made a whole variety of items for use in fraud.'

Police said gained access to funds in excess of £500,000, but the judge said he did not manage to take any money before he was arrested.

Muldowney-Colston, of Brighton, admitted nine counts of possession of an article for use in fraud and two counts of making or supplying an article for use in fraud and was jailed for 20 months.