ROCHFORD: iPhone ‘fraudsters’ held in dawn raid

Officers from two different police forces carried out two dramatic dawn raids in our area on Wednesday morning (18 Aug), arresting a number of people on conspiracy to defraud or suspicion of drugs.

The first raid happened in Rochford where a number of men were arrested by City of London Police officers, as part of a bid to smash a global criminal conspiracy suspected of making millions  from stolen iPhones, through premium phone lines.

Nine people accused of co-ordinating the sophisticated scam were arrested as officers swooped on homes in Forest Gate and Southall in London, Walsall, central Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Rochford.

In one property they also found ‘advanced fee’ fraud letters, prepared to try and con people out of their savings with the promise of a much bigger prize.

Detectives from the City of London Police, which is the National Lead Force for fraud, worked in partnership with O2 after the mobile phone network noticed customers’ phone lines running up massive bills.

A nationwide investigation uncovered an elaborate and expansive fraud that began with an organised crime gang utilising fake identities and counterfeit accounts to buy phones operating on the 02 network.

The gang purchased the phones in High Street stores and online before passing them to the person detectives believe to have been the mastermind behind the whole operation.

The next phase of the fraud saw the SIM cards from the phones being used 24/7 to call international premium line telephone numbers, some costing up to £10 a minute, set-up by the same criminal gang.

Telecommunication regulation in some international destinations means the UK network providers must pay the providers of a phone service before they receive money from their own customers.

This meant the gang’s multi-million pound phone bill from the premium rate calls was paid, and only when O2 approached their ‘customers’ for payment was the fraud uncovered.

Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart, from the City of London Police, said:

“Today we have struck at the very heart of a complex criminal network that has been targeting the telecommunications industry to steal millions of pounds.

“Our investigation found a crime gathering momentum. Each month more SIM cards were being used to make more phone calls to premium rate lines at more expense to the network provider.

“The criminal exploitation of the latest consumer technology is a recurring theme of our work. Our collaboration with O2 on this investigation highlights the benefits of how the private sector can work with the police to proactively target common threats to our communities.”

Adrian Goreham, O2′s General Manager Fraud & Security said:

 “This was a sophisticated and organised attempt to defraud mobile phone operators. We are committed to reducing mobile phone crime and have a dedicated team that monitors and investigates such attempted criminal activity.

We are extremely pleased that our own investigation and the information we have shared with the City of London Police has resulted in these arrests”.

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Meantime, police have swooped on an address in Southend and arrested two men in a dramatic early morning drugs raid (18 Aug).

Officers entered the Longbow flats tower block on Sherwood Way in the town at around 7am (18 Aug), and arrested a 23 year old man from Southend and a 20 year old from London on suspicion of possession of a controlled drug.

Both men have been bailed until 20 October.