Britons are being targeted by organised criminal gangs using the latest mass marketing techniques to defraud them of an estimated £3.5 billion a year. That’s the warning as organisations in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands joined in a global day of action and awareness to fight back against the criminals behind the scams.
From romance frauds and fake lotteries to share frauds and inheritance scams, mass market fraud is serious organised crime. In the UK, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the National Fraud Authority, the Office of Fair Trading, the Metropolitan Police, the City of London Police, the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Services Authority have joined forces to encourage victims everywhere to speak, make a noise about fraud, and stop criminals succeeding.
CEO of the National Fraud Authority, Bernard Herdan, said: “Fraud is a terrible crime yet often people feel embarrassed when they become a victim and so stay silent. We want every victim of fraud to report it to www.actionfraud.org.uk, to stand up to fraudsters and help us all work together to make the UK a more hostile environment for fraudsters.”
SOCA fraud man Colin Woodcock said: “To anyone who thinks this sort of thing can’t touch them we’d say complacency is a big risk. Many of us look at the sort of frauds that affect other people and feel confident we would never fall for them. But serious organised criminals are endlessly inventive and the UK is worth £3.5 billion to them every year through mass market fraud – they don’t want to give that up. Once people get wise to one scam, the criminals will switch to something else. Scams and frauds are often used to fund other crimes such as drug dealing and people trafficking. Individuals are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds, losing their homes and, in extreme cases, losing their lives when they can’t face the consequences of what has happened to them.”
The traditional Nigerian ‘419’ scam letter or email, which many people know and avoid, is the tip of the iceberg according to the organisations dedicated to tackling fraud and protecting its victims. Frauds are getting more plausible and more sophisticated as criminals try to stay one step ahead of public awareness and law enforcement action.
Most mass market frauds originate overseas but they often use UK addresses to give victims a sense of security. SOCA follows the trail upstream, working with the authorities in other countries to attack the routes that criminals use to target the UK. Large volumes of scam mail are seized in West Africa every year before it can reach its victims, thanks to close cooperation between SOCA, Ghana CID and the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
SOCA has written to around 200 people across the UK who could have become victims if the scam mail addressed to them had not been intercepted in Ghana in recent days.
In the run up to the awareness day, City of London Police officers carried out searches and arrests at a number of locations across England targeting the criminal networks behind mass marketing frauds. Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Head, from City of London Police’s Economic Crime Directorate, said: "Today’s activities not only send out a clear message to callous criminals who target the vulnerable but act as a springboard for sustained action in countering this threat. City of London Police works hard to highlight that this is not a victimless crime, so it is pleasing to see both the national and international response to this threat. We all recognise the benefits of collaboration and pro-active prevention campaigns supported by robust enforcement activity."
Victim awareness is a way of defeating fraudsters, it’s claimed. Metropolitan Police teams were on the streets of Bexley advising people of the dangers of mass market fraud and the ways to avoid it. Detective Chief Inspector Nick Downing from the Met’s Economic and Specialist Crime Command said: "Our main focus today is raising awareness among those that are preyed upon by these persistent criminals. Relatives of the elderly and vulnerable need to be aware of the dangers of mass marketing fraud – the effect this type of scam mail has on victims is hugely underestimated. We have seen some people sending significant sums of money, sometimes their life savings to criminals in the post or via money transfer. The MPS are working tirelessly to prevent fraudulent mail entering the country in the first place, by working together with European police forces and partner agencies in the UK. Offering victims access to a support network is what our activity in Bexley today is all about."
There is advice available to avoid becoming a victim in the first place, and support for those who suspect that they may already have fallen victim to fraud:
* Don’t stay silent. If you’ve been targeted by a fraudster and lost money, contact Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.org.uk or freephone 0300 123 2040
* Remember – if you haven’t entered a competition, you won’t have won a prize
* If something seems too good to be true, it probably is
* Ask questions – If someone is legitimate they won’t pressurise you or be elusive
* Don’t provide money upfront
* Be very wary about giving your personal information to strangers
* Look out for bad spelling and grammar, they are often a sign of a fraudulent organisation
* Remember that websites can be faked too, and that someone may claim to work for a well known company. Always check the real company’s details against the ones you have been given, and ring them direct if you are in doubt.
