Met makes 100 arrests in UK's biggest ever fraud operation

A phone number spoofing site used by criminals to scam thousands of victims out of millions has been shut down in what the Met's calling the "UK's biggest ever fraud operation".

As many as 200-thousand potential victims have been identified across the country.

Members of British law enforcement were part of a global operation to bring down ispoof.cc, a website described by police as an online fraud shop.

They worked with Dutch law enforcement who managed to tap the website's servers in the Netherlands to secretly listen to phone calls.

At one point as many as 20 people every minute were being targeted by callers using technology bought from the site.

Criminals, who found out about the site from adverts posted on channels on encrypted messaging app Telegram, used it to buy technology that allowed them to mask their phone number.

"as many as 20 people every minute were being targeted"

This meant they could trick victims into thinking they were being contacted by their bank and persuade them to pass on personal details that allowed the fraudsters to steal cash.

One victim lost £3 million and the average loss among the 4,785 people who have reported being targeted to Action Fraud is £10,000.

There are thought to be many more potential victims.

Of 10 million fraudulent calls made, 40% were in the United States, 35% were in the UK and the rest were spread across a number of countries.

Victims will be contacted

Around 70,000 UK phone numbers called by criminals who used the site will be alerted by the Metropolitan Police via text message on Thursday and Friday and asked to contact the force.

So far 120 arrests have been made - 103 in London and 17 outside the capital.

The site is said to have made more than £3 million profit.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the number of potential UK victims was "extraordinary", adding: "What we are doing here is trying to industrialise our response to the organised criminals' industrialisation of the problem."

Background to the operation

Ispoof was created in December 2020 and at its peak had 59,000 users, allowing them to pay for the criminal software using Bitcoin, with charges ranging from £150 to £5,000 per month.

UK police began investigating the site in June 2021, opting for ispoof as the largest criminal site that was based in the country.

Detective Superintendent Helen Rance, who leads on cyber crime for the Met, said: "By taking down ispoof we have prevented further offences and stopped fraudsters targeting future victims.

"Our message to criminals who have used this website is we have your details and are working hard to locate you, regardless of where you are."

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