Londoner who helped con victims out of more than £100million is jailed
The Londoner responsible for running a multimillion-pound fraud website's been jailed for just over 13 years.
Tejay Fletcher of Western Gateway pleaded guilty to running iSpoof, which scammers used to trick people into handing over their bank details.
Calls would show up as coming from reputable firms and helped to trick people out of more than £100 million worldwide.
Confirmed losses to UK victims is £43 million. At one stage, almost 20 people every minute of the day were being contacted by scammers hiding behind false identities using the site.
The court heard Fletcher rented an east London apartment, which boasts views of the Royal Victoria Dock and the city skyline, and owned a £230,000 Lamborghini
Fletcher also spent a total of £120,000 on two Range Rovers for him and his girlfriend, while police found a money counter, jewellery and an £11,000 Rolex in his home.
He was arrested at his girlfriend's house in east London last November and pleaded guilty to four charges, including making or supplying an article for use in fraud, encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence, possession of criminal property and transferring criminal property, between November 30 2020 and November 8 2022.
Simon Baker KC, defending, had told the judge his client had no idea of the scale of the eventual fraud when he set up the website. Mr Baker described Fletcher, who has a young son, as an "extremely bright young man", adding: "It is extremely unfortunate that intellect was not channelled into gainful activities."
He worked with a youth charity and developed an anti-bullying campaign in the years before his arrest and had received an offer of a place at drama school, the barrister added.
"His guilty plea reflects his genuine regret and remorse for his actions and his sincere wish to apologise to those who have suffered as a result of the frauds perpetrated against them as a result of the ispoof website,"
National Crime Agency Deputy Director Paul Foster, Head of the National Cyber Crime Unit, said:
“Fraud can have a devastating impact on victims, so tackling it is a priority for the NCA and our policing partners.
“Key to our response is targeting the online platforms that supply offenders with the tools and services they use to commit cyber-enabled fraud.
“We will continue to target criminal infrastructure, and pursue the administrators and users. The protection of victims and their data online is paramount and we are constantly improving our capabilities across law enforcement to help achieve this.”
Users of iSpoof, who had to pay to use its services, posed as representatives of banks including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds and Halifax, pretending to warn of suspicious activity on their accounts.
Scammers would encourage the unsuspecting members of the public to disclose security information such as one-time passcodes to obtain their money.
In the 12 months until August 2022 around 10 million fraudulent calls were made globally via iSpoof, with around 3.5 million of those made in the UK.
Of those, 350,000 calls lasted more than one minute and were made to 200,000 individuals.
Before it was shut down in November 2022, iSpoof was constantly growing. 700 new users were registering with the site every week and it was earning on average £80,000 per week. At the point of closure it had 59,000 registered users.
The website offered a number of packages for users who would buy, in Bitcoin, the number of minutes they wanted to use the software for to make calls.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said:
“We are proud to have taken down criminals at the top of this fraudulent network, heartless people who were determined to facilitate fraud on an industrial scale, ruining the lives of many victims who were targeted.
“Closing down iSpoof has been the UK’s biggest ever fraud operation was a collective effort.
“The investigative excellence of the detectives who led this case is a great example of expertise at the Met bringing justice for victims, huge thanks must also go to the officer in the case DC Ed Sehmer.”
Detective Superintendent Helen Rance said:
“I am proud of my team who have led a long and complex international investigation that has resulted in Fletcher having no choice but to plead guilty.
“By setting up iSpoof Fletcher created a gateway for thousands of criminals to defraud innocent victims out of millions of pounds. Meanwhile he was living a luxury lifestyle benefitting from the profits.
“Those who commit fraud have no regard for the life-changing impact it has on innocent victims who have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Fletcher should be thoroughly ashamed.
“Our wider investigations into the suspected users of iSpoof continue. I’d like to thank our partners who have assisted the investigation.
“It is vital that anyone who has been a victim of fraud reports what has happened to Action Fraud. Remember, never give out your one-time password and if something doesn’t feel right then stop and take 5.”
Commander Nik Adams from the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, said:
“This case is an excellent example of how coordinated and collaborative activity across a number of law enforcement agencies can result in a significant court result for victims of fraud and cybercrime. This type of crime will not be tolerated and those who are involved in fraud and cybercrime will be found and brought to justice.