The website allowed fraudsters to pose as representatives of well-known high street banks, tax offices and other government bodies in an attempt to trick victims.
Fri 21 Apr 2023 07:44, UK
A man who ran a multi-million pound fraud website has pleaded guilty following the biggest ever fraud investigation by the Metropolitan Police.
Tejay Fletcher, 35, pleaded guilty to running IcePof, a website that allowed criminals and fraudsters to pretend to be calling from banks, tax offices and other government agencies to defraud victims.
They have presented as representatives of banks including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, First Direct, NatWest, National and TSB.
Total fraud losses enabled by ISPoff in the UK exceed £43m, with total global losses estimated at at least £100m.
“My team in the Cyber Crime Unit who carried out this investigation are incredibly proud of the fact that Fletcher pleaded guilty. He enabled criminals to defraud innocent people out of millions of pounds.” .
Read more:
The recruitment costs thousands of job seekers
Since the start of the epidemic, £21bn of public money has been lost through fraud
A woman who made £500,000 in return for stolen goods has been charged.
She added that the Met was doing “more than ever” to protect Londoners from cyber fraud and had laid out a clear plan to contact victims of “Ispoff” attacks.
Charges against Fletcher include preparing or furnishing articles of fraud, encouraging or aiding the commission of a crime, possession of criminal property and transfer of criminal property.
Crown Prosecution Service special prosecutor Thomas Short called fraud an “insidious crime” that caused “huge emotional distress and devastation”.
He said: “As the CEO of the IceSpof website, Tejay Fletcher has helped scammers find the tools to trick innocent people to an alarming extent.
“I hope today’s conviction sends a strong message that criminals can no longer hide from anonymity online.”
Fletcher will be sentenced on Thursday, May 18.
We offer you some site tools and assistance to get the best result in daily life by taking advantage of simple experiences