iSpoof fraudster guilty of £100m scam sentenced to 13 years
A website mastermind who helped criminals to defraud victims globally of £100mn was on Friday jailed for more than 13 years following the largest ever fraud investigation by the Metropolitan Police.
Tejay Fletcher, 35, helped criminals facilitate “fraud on an industrial scale” through his iSpoof website, Southwark Crown Court heard, and led to UK bank customers being conned out of at least £43mn.
The case comes as the UK this month outlined a national fraud strategy to reduce spiralling online crime rates by 2025, including cold calls and “number spoofing”, when scammers change their caller ID to disguise their identity.
Fraud accounted for 40 per cent of all offences in England and Wales last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Fletcher of Western Gateway in London pleaded guilty to four criminal charges including one of making or supplying articles for use in fraud.
He was jailed for 13 years and four months. Prosecutor John Ojakovoh told the court Fletcher was the founder and administrator of ispoof.cc, now taken down, which offered criminals digital tools that enabled them to pose as bank staff to defraud their victims.
Fraudsters would hide their caller ID to make it appear as if they were calling from a genuine company or lender such as Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds, the court heard. The website had 44,459 subscribers and charged a monthly subscription payable in bitcoin. Fletcher personally received bitcoin worth £2mn from the scam and when arrested was found to have a Lamborghini car, two Range Rovers and a Rolex watch with a combined value of £360,000. The “extensive and complicated investigation” had involved more than 700 days of police time in what London’s Metropolitan Police described as their largest ever fraud investigation.
Fraud accounted for 40 per cent of all offences in England and Wales last year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Fletcher of Western Gateway in London pleaded guilty to four criminal charges including one of making or supplying articles for use in fraud. He was jailed for 13 years and four months. Prosecutor John Ojakovoh told the court Fletcher was the founder and administrator of ispoof.cc, now taken down, which offered criminals digital tools that enabled them to pose as bank staff to defraud their victims. Fraudsters would hide their caller ID to make it appear as if they were calling from a genuine company or lender such as Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds, the court heard.
The website had 44,459 subscribers and charged a monthly subscription payable in bitcoin. Fletcher personally received bitcoin worth £2mn from the scam and when arrested was found to have a Lamborghini car, two Range Rovers and a Rolex watch with a combined value of £360,000. The “extensive and complicated investigation” had involved more than 700 days of police time in what London’s Metropolitan Police described as their largest ever fraud investigation.
Criminals used the web tools to call unsuspecting customers and obtain information allowing them to empty thousands of bank accounts, the court was told. “Total losses to victims exceeded £43mn and the estimated loss globally was at least £100mn,” Ojakovoh said, adding that subscription fees paid by users amounted to £3mn. The court heard Fletcher’s action had enabled “fraud on an industrial scale” in the period between November 2020 and November 2022 covered by the charges.
Sentencing Fletcher, Judge Sally Cahill KC said: “The evidence in my view shows very clearly your leading role and your active role in creating a sophisticated article for fraud which generated substantial profit for you.” Fletcher, who has 18 previous convictions, had expressed remorse for his actions and had an “unfortunate upbringing” in care homes as well as health problems, the court heard in mitigation. He had also spent time working in the community including on anti-bullying initiatives in schools. Kate Anderson, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Through the website, criminals bought the services provided by Fletcher to commit fraud on an industrial scale, resulting in total losses of more than £43mn to victims in the UK alone.”
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