A fraudster stole £100 milllion from victims across the world with a bank warning scam, causing victims “huge emotional distress and devastation”.
Tejay Fletcher, 35, who ran the multi-million-pound fraud website iSpoof, pleaded guilty to the Metropolitan Police’s largest-ever fraud investigation.
iSpoof enabled criminals and fraudsters to appear as if they were calling from banks, tax offices and other official bodies as they attempted to defraud victims. They posed as representatives of banks, including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, First Direct, Natwest, Nationwide and TSB.
The total losses to victims of frauds enabled by iSpoof in the UK alone exceed £43 million, with the total global losses estimated to be at least £100 million.
Thomas Short, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Fletcher helped fraudsters “cheat innocent people on a shocking scale”.
He continued: “Fraud is an insidious crime and the cost to the many victims in this case has not just been financial; it has also caused huge emotional distress and devastation.”
Fletcher, of Western Gateway, London, appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to the charges of making or supplying articles for use in fraud; encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence; possessing criminal property and transferring criminal property.
He will be sentenced on Thursday, 18 May at the same court.
Detective Superintendent Helen Rance, who has been leading the investigation, said Fletcher “was the ringleader of a slick fraud website, which enabled criminals to defraud innocent people of millions of pounds”.
Detective Constable Ed Sehmer said: “This investigation shows that despite what Fletcher and criminal online services often claim, that fraudsters who use them are anonymous, that’s simply not the case. Police can - and will - track down the people running and using these services.”
Mr Short said: “We want to encourage all those who think they’ve been a victim of a fraud to come forward and report it.
“The CPS works closely with police to bring fraudulent offenders like Fletcher to justice and I hope today’s conviction sends a strong message to criminals that they can no longer hide behind online anonymity.”
If you think you have been a victim of fraud, you should contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
