Police have arrested six people in raids in London, Manchester and Bolton over a £1m online phishing scam which targeted students’ bank accounts, withdrawing thousands of pounds at a time.
The phishing scam was designed to trick students on government loan schemes into revealing their account details. The information was then used to withdraw cash amounts of up to £5,000.
The victims received e-mails asking them to update details using a link which connected to a phishing web page hosted by the cyber criminals.
The Metropolitan Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) seized computers and other equipment from addresses in after investigating the scam since August.
A 26-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were arrested in Manchester, a 25-year-old man was arrested in Deptford, south London, a 49-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man were arrested in Stratford, north-east London, and a 38-year-old man was arrested in Bolton.
The PCeU said the crime had invloved the theft of a huge amount of personal information, which was cleverly exploited for substantial profit.
The suspects, who were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and Computer Misuse Act offences, are being held at police stations in London, Manchester and Bolton.
