Billion dollar bank fraud foiled by UK crime fighters
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Billion dollar bank fraud foiled
by UK
crime fighters
The International Chamber
of Commerce (ICC) today revealed details of an investigation into an Internet
banking fraud scheme estimated to have been worth £2.7bn.
The ICC's Commercial Crime Bureau
(CCB) carried out a six month investigation into the high-tech banking fraud
scheme before putting a stop to it with support from the Commercial Crime
Services (CCS) Cybercrime Unit (CCU).
An organised group of fraudsters
created fake online European banking guarantees claiming to have been issued by
one of 29 European banks in a scheme designed to entice investors to hand over
money. The plot involved building Web pages disguised as those belonging to
Bloomberg and Euroclear, an international system for clearing securities and
Eurobonds. Examples of the fake addresses include www.euroclear30.50megs.com
and www.bloomberg.50megs.com.
"The amounts represented on
the fraudulent sites ranged from $50m to over $400m," says Jon Merrett,
assistant director of ICC's Commercial Crime Bureau and Cybercrime Unit.
Merrett says that some investors have been swindled out of as much as £48,000 and
further victims are still coming forward.
The ICC believes the fraudsters
are based in the US and the Far East, and hopes to enlist the help of criminal police
investigators in bringing them to justice. Merrett also said that this case
highlights the danger of identity theft on the Internet and threatened to dent
confidence in online banking technology.
"By shutting down the
fraudulent sites in cases like this, we are not only protecting investors from
scams, but also helping companies such as Bloomberg to maintain their
reputation," he said.
"The big risk is that these
frauds could rock the trust that the banking, finance and insurance industries
are built on."
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