The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit
(DCPCU) has prevented £25m of fraud and carried out 84 arrests
and interviews under caution in the first half of 2018, figures
published today reveal.
The DCPCU, a specialist police unit sponsored
by the finance industry, achieved estimated savings of £25m from
preventing and disrupting fraud in the first half of the year.
This brings the total savings from reduced fraud activity to over
£540m since the unit was set up in 2002.
26 fraudsters were convicted between January
and June 2018 in cases investigated by the DCPCU. This resulted
in 33 years imprisonment for those given custodial
sentences.
In this same period, the unit has disrupted
seven organised crime groups and recovered 8,651 stolen card
numbers. In addition, over £122,000 of compensation was returned
to victims following the confiscation of criminal assets by the
DCPCU.
Glyn Whittick, Temporary Detective
Chief Inspector of the DCPCU,
commented:
“The DCPCU continues to successfully target the
criminal gangs responsible for fraud and bring them to
justice.
“An estimated £25m of fraud has been prevented
and 26 fraudsters have been convicted.
“This is a testament to the hard work of our
officers and staff, who work closely with the banking industry to
identify and prosecute fraudsters.
“Criminal gangs are increasingly sophisticated
and taking advantage of new technologies to commit fraud online.
But through close cooperation between law enforcement and the
industry, we can stay one step ahead and ensure there is no place
for fraudsters to hide.”
Katy Worobec, Managing Director of
Economic Crime at UK Finance,
commented:
“The finance industry continues to take action on all
fronts to protect customers from fraud, and supporting the DCPCU
provides us with another invaluable weapon in this
fight.
“By working together across the industry, government
and law enforcement agencies we can ensure fraudsters are caught
and punished. The continued success of the DCPCU is a fantastic
example of this kind of collaboration in action.”
Case
studies
Case Study 1: Card not present
fraud
The DCPCU successfully investigated an
organised criminal group (OCG) involved with card-not-present
(CNP) fraud. Compromised bank card data was used to complete
online retail orders, with deliveries specified for a variety of
addresses in the Grimsby area. Surendiran Ganesharjah purchased
bank card data via the dark web and recruited a delivery driver
called Michael Cummings to assist with the fraud. A proactive
operation evidenced the fraud in action and resulted in guilty
pleas entered by both parties. Ganesharjah received a 32-month
custodial sentence and Cummings received an 18-month custodial
sentence.
Case Study 2: Insider
fraud
Abdul Khan and Mansoor Sanobar were employees
at a high-street bank who committed over £221,000 of fraud.
Between 3rd July 2013 - 27th October 2016, Khan authorised
transfers totalling over £221,000 in accounts belonging to him
and Sanobar. The funds were then spent away via cash withdrawals,
large card purchases and transfers to other beneficiaries. This
included the purchase of gold bars and expensive trips to Dubai.
Both Khan and Sanobar pleaded guilty prior to trial for money
laundering offences. Khan was sentenced to three years and two
months in prison and Sanobar was sentenced to two years and 11
months.
Ends
Notes to Editor
-
The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime
Unit (DCPCU) is a unique pro-active police unit, with a
national remit, formed as a partnership between UK Finance,
the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police
together with the Home Office. It is fully sponsored by the
cards and banking industries, with an on-going brief to
investigate, target and, where appropriate, arrest and seek
successful prosecution of offenders responsible for card,
cheque and payment fraud crimes. It is headed up by a
Detective Chief Inspector and comprises officers from the
Metropolitan and City of London police forces who work
alongside banking industry fraud investigators and support
staff. Established in April 2002, the DCPCU has since
achieved an estimated £500 million in savings from reduced
fraud activity.
-
The latest data from UK Finance shows that
banks and card companies prevented £2 in every £3 of
attempted unauthorised fraud in 2017, with over £1.4 billion
of unauthorised financial fraud
stopped. https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/finance-industry-stops-1-4-billion-in-attempted-fraud/
