MORE than 100 cyber crooks have been arrested in Britain’s biggest-ever anti-fraud sting.
A suspected mastermind who ran a website called iSpoof used by fraudsters around the world was among those held in the police operation.
The cockney is said to have made £3.2million from iSpoof before it was shut down following an international police investigation.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley yesterday hailed the global probe as Scotland Yard prepared to contact 70,000 iSpoof victims by text message over the next two days.
But he has admitted it is "bizarre" that his own officers are telling the public to respond to messages they are usually told to ignore.
At least 20,000 victims were fleeced for at least £48m across the world by posing as bank officials – but the true figure is likely to be even higher.
Villains tricked account holders into disclosing confidential details by claiming they were being targeted by fraudsters.
The crooks had sophisticated software bought from iSpoof which made it appear the conmen were ringing from legitimate banks like Halifax, Barclays and NatWest.
Criminals using iSpoof had already gleaned information about potential victims and their accounts from elsewhere on the dark web.
Victims have lost an average of £10,000 but one Briton was tricked out of £3m.
Police have made more than 120 arrests in Britain over the past weeks, mostly in London.
Suspects have also been detained in Holland, Australia, France and Ireland. Further arrests are expected.
Cops said the iSpoof website allowed criminals to commit fraud on an “industrial scale”.
At one point as many as 20 victims every minute were being targeted by fraudsters using technology bought from iSpoof which was created in December 2020 and at its peak had 59,000 users.
Police described the website as an “online fraud shop” which turned ordinary crooks into cyber criminals.
It used slick videos to advertise to would-be lawbreakers through encrypted messaging apps.
Scotland Yard launched an investigation into iSpoof in June last year and later discovered police in Holland were also probing the site.
The two forces teamed up with the FBI and other agencies, including the authorities in war-torn Ukraine, for Operation Elaborate.
It was shut down in September while it was using a server in Kyiv.
And the site was permanently disabled in November, to which a TikTok user posted: "RIP to all you iSpoof users."
Police say 10 million fraudulent calls were made using iSpoof technology, 40 percent in the United States and 35 percent in Britain.
The rest were spread across a number of countries.
Criminals bought software using the crypto-currency Bitcoin and were charged between £150 and £5,000.
They then phoned their victims and the name of their banks would appear on their screens, making it seem legitimate.
The caller would convince them their accounts had been compromised and the cash needed to be moved.
Michele Bucci, who lost £5,000 thanks to the scam, told MailOnline: "I gave away my life savings to a scammer that knew all my details.
"English is not my first language. They caught me off guard and played straight into my fears and anxieties."
Another target of the scheme, a mum who wished to remain anonymous, said she thinks she was on a "suckers list" after falling for a Royal Mail fraud which saw her personal details stolen.
Sir Mark said: “This is the biggest fraud operation in this country and it signals a different approach.
“This is about starting from the organised criminals that drive and create this fraud.
“What we are doing here is trying to industrialise our response to the organised criminals.”
Alleged iSpoof site administrator Teejay Fletcher, 35, was arrested in east London earlier this month and is facing criminal charges.
Fletcher is alleged to be a member of an organised crime group and enjoyed a “lavish” lifestyle.
Police will contact 70,000 iSpoof victims by text over the next two days.
These messages will ask people to register their details on the Action Fraud website.
They will only be sent on November 24 and 25.
Any other texts should be regarded as fraudulent.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: "Don't respond to any texts with sort of dodgy shortcuts and things. Come through official websites is the best way of doing this.
"There is something sort of slightly bizarre about this isn't there, which is why we're encouraging people to actually go on to the Met Police website and they'll find the shortcuts and links there to report this.
"But we want to hear from you because the people we message in the next 24 hours have been victims of fraud or attempted fraud and we can stack all these offences against the people we've been arresting."
Young Dublin mum dies after travelling to Turkey for weight loss surgery
Radio boss teases return of 2fm old boy years after booting host from station
Eagle-eyed RTE viewers spot bottle of Fanta after cursing incident
Queen secretly fought painful cancer in her final year, book claims
©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. “The Sun”, “Sun”, “Sun Online” are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers’ Limited’s Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. View our online Press Pack. For other inquiries Contact Us. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)
