- Mohammed Khan, 20, from Camden, London, has been sentenced to a total of seven months in prison for sending Covid-19 scam text messages.
- Specialist police unit sponsored by the banking and finance industry protects over 200 customer accounts from falling victim to fraud and has executed 27 warrants in relation to Covid-19 scams since lockdown began.
A man has been sentenced to seven months in prison at Inner London Crown Court after pleading guilty to sending out a large number of fraudulent text messages linked to Covid-19.
Mohammed Khan, 20, from Camden, London, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation and one count possession of articles for use in fraud, following a successful investigation by the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), a specialist police unit sponsored by the banking and finance industry that investigates the criminals responsible for fraud.
Officers from the unit were also able to recover bank account information that had been harvested through the scams and share them with the banking industry, enabling over 200 customer accounts to be protected.
Intelligence work by the DCPCU and Action Fraud identified that the suspect was involved in sending large-scale ‘smishing’ text message campaigns exploiting concerns around Covid-19 to defraud the public. Some of the fraudulent messages claimed to be from the UK government and offered a tax refund as a result of the pandemic. The messages included a link to a form on a fake webpage imitating official government websites, with the aim of tricking customers into giving away their personal and account details that could later be used to commit fraud. Other messages claimed to be from mobile phone operators offering a refund due to the impact of Covid-19, again including links to fake websites to harvest customer’s details.
DCPCU officers executed a search warrant at Mr Khan’s home address in Camden, London on Wednesday 13 May and seized a number of digital devices. Analysis of these devices provided evidence that the suspect was involved in the Covid-19 fraudulent messaging campaigns. In addition to this search warrant, the unit has executed 26 other warrants so far during the lockdown period.
Mr Khan was arrested by DCPCU officers at his home address on Thursday 14 May and charged with fraud by false representation and possession of articles for use in fraud. He pleaded guilty to both charges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 15 May. All victims of the fraud have been refunded.
Mr Khan received a custodial sentence of 30 weeks for committing fraud and 30 weeks for being in possession of articles for use in fraud, both to run concurrently.
DCI Gary Robinson, DCPCU head of the unit, said:
Mr Khan thought he could get away with committing fraud by exploiting the Covid-19 crisis to callously send out fraudulent messages to innocent people. Through this investigation, we were able to recover a large number of account details, helping to prevent customers from falling victim to fraud and bring this criminal to justice.
“This sentencing is a warning to those who believe they can benefit financially from fraud that they will be caught and punished. The DCPCU will continue its work with banks and mobile phone companies to clamp down on the criminal gangs seeking to use the pandemic to defraud people.
“Criminals will use any opportunity they can to impersonate trusted organisations like the government or HMRC and will try to play on people’s concerns about their finances at this challenging time. It’s therefore crucial to always follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign and not to click on links in any messages that ask for your personal or financial details in case it’s a scam.
