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Conman who made nearly £500,000 ordered to pay back just £2,500

Jason Richards helped John Dodd’s run an illegal scam providing access to pay TV and premier league football matches.

They provided at least 270 pubs with access to a range of channels, police say the fraud caused losses estimated to be in the millions and lined their own pockets with at least £1.5 million.

The impact of these crimes was wide-ranging and caused financial damage to the FA Premier League, Sky, BT and publicans who did not sign up to be part of a scam service.

Dodd’s, 66, and Richards, 46, who admitted conspiracy to defraud after a prosecution by … Read more

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Thousands of Brits Fall Victim To Universal Credit Fraud

The Government has admitted that thousands of people who fell victim to a Universal Credit Fraud, might have to be put back on the old benefits system.
It was revealed this week, tens of millions of pounds is believed to have been stolen by fraudsters, leaving genuine claimants owing hundreds. Criminals have been making bogus claims online possible through a loophole in the online system, whereby the fraudster makes an application and claims advance loans.

Brits can get up to 100 per cent of their advance claim ahead of time to stop them having to wait five weeks for their … Read more

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Don’t let a scam ruin your holiday

Fraudsters stole more than £7 million from holidaymakers in 2018.

Action Fraud’s figures show more than 5,000 tourists were conned into paying for fake flights, non-existent villas and other scams. Figures released by Action Fraud show the average amount lost due to holiday fraud in 2018 was £1,380.

Travel trade organisation Abta’s chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “The cost to victims is not just financial. This crime causes very real emotional distress. Fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target destinations and times of year when demand is high and availability limited, as they know people will be looking … Read more

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Warning Over Counterfeit Currency In Circulation

Action Fraud have issued a warning over counterfeit currency and the organised crime syndicates, making big money from it.

In 2018 alone, more than £10 million worth of counterfeit bank notes were taken out of circulation. This only represents a small portion of the 3.7 billion genuine bank notes in circulation, but police say it is essential they are reported.

Action Fraud reports that criminals are using social media platforms such as Instagram to sell counterfeit money, and sellers are offering notes at a reduced price, sometimes as little as a tenth of their face value. Police in West Yorkshire … Read more

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British Airways Ordered To Pay Record Fine

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has informed British Airways they are facing a record fine of £183.39 million, this is the biggest fine ever issued by the ICO.

Between June and September 2018, the airline suffered a massive cyber-attack leading to the personal and financial information of over 500,000 customers being stolen. The sensitive information, which included people’s passport numbers, names and addresses and credit card details, was stolen from the airline’s website and mobile app.

The ICO launched an extensive investigation and found that a variety of information was compromised, and the airline was to blame as they had … Read more

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New type of courier fraud targeting older victims

Vulnerable and elderly people are being targeted by scammers and coerced into spending thousands of pounds on designer watches and other expensive purchases in a new type of courier fraud.

Harrods and Watches of Switzerland say their staff have repeatedly prevented people from spending large sums of money they were being coerced into giving to fraudsters waiting for them outside. The stores say that the problem has become so serious that the shops have ordered their store detectives to not only be on the look out for thieves, but also watch out for shoppers who appear to be making purchases … Read more

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Action Fraud issues warning after bogus traffic wardens steal bank cards

The reporting service is asking members of the public to be vigilant as individuals are pretending to be police officers and traffic wardens and targeting members of the public.

 Action Fraud the reporting service, has received an increase number of reports of fraudsters claiming to be police officers or traffic wardens. The service says that most of the people being targeted are elderly and vulnerable.

Action Fraud say they have received 33 reports since January 2019 of victims being targeted by fraudsters pretending to be police officers and traffic wardens.

Victims are being approached while in the car park … Read more

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Arrests Made Over Patisserie Valerie Fraud

Five people have been arrested and questioned by the Serious Fraud Office in relation to alleged fraud at Patisserie Valerie. 

The arrests were made last week in a joint operation and follow the arrest and subsequent bailing of the bakery’s former finance director, Chris Marsh, last October. In a statement the Serious Fraud Office said: “On Tuesday 18 June, as part of a joint operation with Hertfordshire, Leicestershire and the Metropolitan Police Services, five individuals were arrested and interviewed in connection with the Serious Fraud Office investigation into individuals associated with Patisserie Holdings PLC.”

“Significant, and potentially fraudulent, accounting irregularities”, … Read more

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EE Fined For Spamming Customers

The Information Commissioners Office has fined EE £100,000 for sending millions of marketing texts without permission to do so.

Mobile giant EE has been fined £100,000 for sending millions of text messages to customers. The ICO said EE sent more than 2.5 million messages in 2018. The messages asked customers to download an app and upgrade their phones. EE also sent follow up texts to the customers who did not open the first message.

EE told the ICO that the texts were sent as service messages and because of this were no subject to the electronic marketing rules. However, the … Read more

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Woman used by criminals in bank fraud case

A mother-of-two who acted as a mule for an organised crime gang has been spared jail after she admitted multiple frauds.

The 35 year old woman from Belfast, was described in court as a vulnerable woman with a heart condition picked on by fraudsters. Joanne Rice pleaded guilty to 14 counts of fraud by false representation over a six day period in 2016.

The M&S bank accounts that were owned by a separate customer had £85,500 transferred from it into what was described as a mule account, one of which belonged to Joanne Rice. In fact, over a six … Read more

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