An international spoofing operation that allowed criminals to impersonate representatives from banks, tax offices, and other official entities has been dismantled in the UK’s largest fraud crackdown to date.
Over 200,000 individuals in the UK were directly targeted through the fraudulent website iSpoof. At its peak, scammers were contacting nearly 20 people every minute, using false identities to defraud victims. They posed as agents from numerous banks, including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, First Direct, Natwest, Nationwide, and TSB.
Scotland Yard’s Cyber Crime Unit partnered with international law enforcement, including agencies in the US and Ukraine, to take down the website this week. iSpoof enabled criminals to disguise their calls, making them appear as if they were originating from legitimate institutions.
Victims are believed to have collectively lost tens of millions of pounds, while the operators of iSpoof reportedly generated nearly £3.2 million over a 20-month period. The website is estimated to have caused global losses exceeding £100 million, with reported losses to Action Fraud related to iSpoof calls and texts around £48 million. Individuals who reported being targeted indicated an average loss of approximately £10,000.
The Metropolitan Police are proactively messaging over 70,000 numbers linked to individuals contacted through iSpoof. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley commented on the operation, stating, “The exploitation of technology by organised criminals represents one of the greatest challenges for law enforcement in the 21st century. By eliminating the tools that facilitate large-scale fraud, this operation demonstrates our commitment to targeting those who exploit often vulnerable victims.”
The operation, coordinated by the Met’s Cyber and Economic Crime Units in collaboration with Europol, Eurojust, Dutch authorities, and the FBI, has resulted in over 100 arrests in the UK, predominantly on suspicion of fraud.