Eight people behind a phishing attack that netted them a woman’s £1 million lifesavings been convicted following an investigation by the Met’s Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU). Detectives warn people never to click on links in unsolicited emails purporting to be from banks or building societies, checkwww.getsafeonline.org for more advice.
In December 2011, Tamer Hassanin Zaky Abdelhamid, an Egyptian national, sent the woman an email purporting to be from her bank. It directed her to a web page mimicking her bank’s genuine website where she filled in her account details in order to log in. Parading under the online moniker ‘Aimless88’, Abdelhamid then sold the victim’s details for £3,200 to Rilwan Adesegun Oshodi, of Thamesmead. Oshodi used Annette Jabeth, also of Thamesmead, to ring the bank and pose as the victim to change the account contact details, so the victim wouldn’t receive confirmation of transactions. The victim’s savings were then siphoned off via internet transfers to numerous accounts including several controlled by other people.
Much of the money was spent when the five embarked on a three-day spending spree during the New Year sales in January 2012. Detectives from PCeU worked closely with the banking industry to track down who was responsible. They were then arrested. At Oshodi’s address in Thamesmead detectives seized computers featuring the details of over 11,000 credit cards – of which 8,471 were for UK customers – worth an estimated £2.5m loss to the banking industry. Oshodi was the only member of the gang to deny the charges against him but was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime at Southwark Crown Court today, Thursday 4 April.
The other members pleaded guilty at earlier court hearings at Southwark Crown Court. Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie, of the PCeU, said: “This is an excellent example of what can be achieved when police work together with industry to tackle the top tier of cyber crime. “In this case the internet was used to allow disparate criminals to collude regardless of global location, time zone or legal framework. The victim of the crime was in South Africa while the suspects were in Egypt and the UK. “While the internet can be a fantastic resource, it can also be used to commit old crimes in new ways. It is important that internet users are alert to the risks posed by the ingenuity of online criminals who seek to steal our money. “Today’s sentences are testament to how seriously we take this type of crime and should stand as a deterrent to anyone who might consider phishing or benefitting from phishing.”
