ID theft gang banged up for 12 yrs

Six members of a UK cyber gang – which sold ID theft kits enabling frauds of up to £1m to be committed – have been jailed for a total of 12 years after pleading guilty at Southwark crown court.
The gang operated from Alicante, in Spain – the so-called Costa del crime – under the name of Confidential Access (CA). The ‘firm’ provided fake documents and coaching on how to commit fraud through online forums.
The fake documents, which included proof of postal address, were sold as full credit profiles to enable customers to commit fraud.
However, if the customer successfully committed fraud, Confidential Access would ask for 50% of the customer’s first fraud or threaten to wreck the credit profile, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Of the 11,000 clients who used CA’s services, some spent more than £20,000 on false documentation and many went on to commit fraud, in some cases totalling more than £1m.
Gang members were arrested after police cracked the encryption codes used by the gang after seizing servers in Hong Kong and replacement servers set up in the Netherlands.
Met Police detective inspector Tim Dowdeswell said: “These cyber criminals not only provided the tools to commit fraud, they instructed their clients in how to use them to make the maximum amount of money, whilst ruining real people’s credit histories into the bargain.
“We have already brought many of their students in crime to court and will continue to work with other police forces and partners to bring those people who bought and used these identities in their own frauds to justice.”
The operation was run by Jason Place and Barry Sales in Alicante, while employees based around the UK would monitor the CA website and work on producing various documents, including false bank statements, wage slips, driving licences and utility bills.
Place, 42, from Gravesend, Kent, was jailed for 6 years and 9 months, while Sales was not prosecuted because he is terminally ill.
Mark Powell-Richards, 59, a credit broker and antiques dealer from Bickley in Kent, was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months for conspiracy to defraud.
Allen Stringer, 57, of Crossgates, Leeds, was jailed for the same term on an identical charge.
Michael Daly, 68, a former chauffeur from Erith, Kent, was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for 2 years, and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid community service for conspiracy to defraud.
Jaipal Singh, 31, a telecoms company director, of Franchise Street, Wednesbury, West Midlands, was sentenced to 18 months for conspiracy to defraud.
Arun Thear, 22, of West Bromwich, was sentenced to 6 months, suspended for 2 years, and ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid community service for forgery.

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