ZDNet UK


Skip to Main Content

ZDNet.co.uk - Winner of Best Business Website 2007
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Blogs
  4. Reviews
  5. Prices
  6. Resources
  7. Community
  8. My ZDNet

 

ZDNet UK RSS Feeds


IT Jobs

Compliance Toolkit

Internet fraudsters sentenced to 15 years

Munir Kotadia ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 21 Nov 2003 17:15 GMT

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendly
  • Post Comment

Six men were sentenced for a total of 15 and a half years in jail at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday, after pleading guilty to using the Internet to defraud UK banks to the tune of £350,000.

The six men, aged between 21 and 39, obtained false identities over the Internet and used them to open bank accounts, arrange overdrafts and apply for credit cards.

According to the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), which was responsible for investigating the crimes and arresting the men, the gang "lived the high life" and had bought properties in the UK and Nigeria as well as jewellery and sports cars. Police confirm that a Porsche, along with jewellery and some cash, has been seized.

Lloyds TSB was the gang's biggest victim, losing £315,000, while the Halifax and the Co-operative Bank lost a combined total of £30,000 over a period of two years.

Detective Chief Superintendent Len Hynds, head of the NHTCU, said the case underlines the need for people to do everything they can to protect that most precious commodity -- their identity. "The Internet offers huge legitimate benefits for modern society; however, with it comes powerful opportunities for those seeking to abuse the benefits for criminal gain," he said in a statement.

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendly Print with Dell

Did you find this article useful?
69 out of 132 people found this useful



Company/Topic Alerts

Create a new alert from the list below:






Related Jobs

SAS Credit Risk Analyst - Retail Bank - London - Urgent

SAS Credit Risk Analyst required for a retail bank based in London. Familiarity of a credit risk environment in a retail bank is beneficial as is a ...

Developer - Credit Derivatives Flow - Investment Bank - £60k

Our client, a tier 1 Investment Bank based in the City of London, is currently looking for a strong Analyst Developer to work in their Credit ...

Tier 1 investment bank they are seeking an Oracle Project DBA

My client is a tier 1 investment bank they are seeking an Oracle Project DBA. The project is to port the Openlink application from a Sybase platform ...

Loading Video Player ....

Featured Talkback

There will be further activation issues to watch out for as Microsoft plans to offer a similar service to independent software vendors whereby they can "control" licensing through activation and other measures similar to the Software Protection Platform.

By: DefenceIT

Read full story:
Microsoft outage down to 'human error'

Sentry Posts Blog

Skype - The Roach Motel

Here is an interesting article from The National Business Review, pointing out once again that you can never delete a Skype account. Never. Period. This is something I am familiar... More

Post a comment

The vPhone: Why Visa Should Go Mobile

The vPhone: Why Visa Should Go Mobile Author: Eric Everson, Founder MyMobiSafe.com With all of the success of Apple’s iPhone, there is a growing case to support a company like Visa... More

Post a comment

The Google Apple Merger: Fantasy or Fu...

The Google Apple Merger: Fantasy or Future? Author: Eric Everson, Founder MyMobiSafe.com Market research suggests that Microsoft controls upwards of 90% of the respective computer-based... More

1 comment