City of London Police has pledged to take more action in its crackdown on computer software service fraud – worth hundreds of millions of pounds – after arresting four people as the result of a two-year joint investigation with Microsoft.
In Woking, Surrey and Sussex Police Cyber Crime Unit arrested a 29 year old man and a 31 year old woman on suspicion of fraud. They have since been bailed.
In South Shields, a 37 year old man and 35 year old woman were arrested on suspicion of fraud. Both were later released pending further enquiries.
Computer software service fraud involves the victim being contacted and told that there is a problem with their computer and that, for a fee, the issue can be resolved. No fix actually occurs.
Commander Dave Clark, City of London Police and National Co-ordinator for Economic Crime said: “These arrests are just the beginning of our work, making the best use of specialist skills and expertise from Microsoft, local police forces and international partners to tackle a crime that often targets the most vulnerable in our society. ”
The arrests have come about as a result of work by the City of London Police and forensic and investigative services provided by Microsoft analysing tens of thousands of Action Fraud reports and working with other affected organisations, such as BT, to attempt to trace the source of the problem.
This analysis and enquiries undertaken by the City of London Police have shown that many of the calls originate in India and that the worldwide losses from victims are thought to be in the hundreds of millions of pounds.
For the financial year 2016/17, there were 34,504 computer software service fraud reports made to Action Fraud, the national fraud and cyber reporting centre, with attributed losses of £20,698,859. This accounts for 12% of all reports to Action Fraud, making it the third most reported fraud type. The average loss suffered by victims is £600 and the average age of victims is 62. Despite these losses the number of victims is thought to be much higher as analysis shows many fail to report.
