Tech

British police open the lid of the largest anti-fraud campaign ever


Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said the operation was the largest of the anti-fraud force

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said it was the force’s largest anti-fraud campaign.

UK police on Thursday said their largest-ever anti-fraud campaign has disrupted an international crime network that targeted hundreds of thousands of victims in millions of spam phone calls. .

The Metropolitan Police, which led the 18-month global investigation into iSpoof.cc websitearrested more than 100 people in recent weeks, including one of the administrators believed to be based in London.

Working with Europol, FBI and other organizations law enforcement Worldwide, the suspects were arrested in the Netherlands, Australia, France and Ireland, while servers were shut down in the Netherlands and Ukraine.

UK police believe organized crime groups are linked to the site and its tens of thousands of users, who may be able to access software tools on it to help get money out of their bank accounts. the victim’s goods illegally and commit other fraudulent acts.

Met Commissioner Mark Rowley said the investigation signals “a different approach” to criminals exploiting the technology.

“This is about starting with organized criminals who actually drive and create the deceptive behavior that we see in the world around us,” he told reporters.

Industrialization scam

London Police Force – the UK’s largest force – said that in the year to August, suspects paid to visit the website and made more than 10 million scam calls worldwide.

Around 40 per cent are in the US, while more than a third in the UK target 200,000 potential victims there alone.

Fraud detection agencies have so far recorded a loss of £48 million ($58 million) in the UK alone, with the largest thefts being £3 million and an average of £10,000.

“Because fraud is so underreported, the full amount is believed to be much higher,” the Met said.

The people behind the site made nearly £3.2 million from it, the force added.

So far, only about 5,000 British victims have been identified.

However, the Met investigation has yielded the phone numbers of more than 70,000 potential victims who have yet to be contacted.

The force will attempt to contact them over the next two days, sending text messages directing those contacted to their website, where details can be securely recorded.

“What we’re doing here is trying to industrialize our response to the industrialization of the organized crime problem,” added Rowley.

Detectives say people who subscribe to fake website can pay with Bitcoin

Detectives said people who signed up to the fake site were able to pay with Bitcoin.

‘Building campaign’

According to the Met, the iSpoof website—described as an “international one-stop fake store”—was created in December 2020 and at its peak had 59,000 users paying between £150 and £5,000 for its services. it.

It allows subscribers, who can pay with Bitcoin, to access so-called spoofing tools that make their phone numbers appear as if they are calling from banks, tax authorities and other agencies. other official authorities.

Some of the UK’s biggest consumer banks—including Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Lloyds, Halifax—are the ones most often imitated.

Combined with a customer’s bank and login details obtained illegally elsewhere online, criminals can then defraud their victims.

“They will worry they (about) fraudulent activity on Bank account and trick them,” said Detective Director Helen Rance, lead cybercrime for the Met.

She noted that those contacted would often be instructed to share a six-digit banking passcode that would allow their accounts to be emptied.

The Met launched “Operation Construction” in June 2021, in partnership with Dutch police, who started their own investigation after an iSpoof server was located there.

A further server operating in Kyiv was shut down in September, while the site was permanently disabled on November 8.

The day before, the Met charged Teejai Fletcher, 34, of east London, with cheat and organized crime groups.

He remains in custody and will appear at a London court on December 6.

“It’s fair to say that he is living a lavish lifestyle,” Rance said, noting that the investigation is still ongoing.

“Instead of just taking down the site and arresting the admin, we tracked down the people using iSpoof,” she added.

Two other suspected administrators outside the UK remain outlawed, the Met noted.

© 2022 AFP

quote: UK police uncover biggest ever anti-fraud operation (2022, 24 Nov) accessed 24 Nov 2022 from https://techxplore.com/news/2022- 11-uk-police-lid-large-counter-fraud.html

This document is the subject for the collection of authors. Other than any fair dealing for private learning or research purposes, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content provided is for informational purposes only.

news7f

News7F: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button