London police smash multi-million pound phone fraud

Stolen SIM cards were used to make calls to premium rate lines

City of London police have arrested eight people on suspicion of fraud during dawn raids in London, Essex, the West Midlands and Middlesbrough.

The gang was charged with fraudulently obtaining mobile phones and SIM cards using stolen identities and other financial data. The phones were used to continuously ring international premium rate phone lines.

"Today we have struck at the very heart of a complex criminal network that has been targeting the telecoms industry to steal millions of pounds," said Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart of the City of London Police.

"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 police also found mobile phones worth £15,000, many still in their boxes, as well as laptops and SIM cards ready for use.

A police spokesman told V3.co.uk that such scams were possible because of variations in international telecommunications laws. UK premium services hold money in escrow for a while to check for fraud, but some overseas providers demand payment upfront.

As a result some of the companies involved, such as O2, discovered the fraud only when they tried to bill bogus accounts after paying for the calls upfront.

"This was a sophisticated and organised attempt to defraud mobile phone operators," said Adrian Goreham, O2's general manager of fraud and security.

"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."