UK’s largest fraud prevention effort texts 70,000 victims

• The Metropolitan Police is texting phone users who they believe have spoken with fraudsters.
• As many as 200,000 people in the UK may have fallen for an online banking scam.
• More than 100 people have been detained thus far, and one person has been charged.

Detectives have started getting in touch with 70,000 people who may have fallen for a sophisticated banking scam.

The Metropolitan Police is texting phone users who they believe have spoken with fraudsters posing as their bank.

Following the uncovering of an online fraud network, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley referred to the process of obtaining evidence as a “enormous endeavor.”

More than 100 people have been detained thus far, and one individual has been charged.

In order to register their information while officers develop cases against suspects, people who get a text message in the following 24 hours will be referred to the Action Fraud website.

According to Sir Mark, the Met was calling mobile numbers associated with the criminals for longer than a minute, indicating a fraud or attempted fraud had occurred.

Fraudsters pretended to be a bank and called random individuals to warn them of suspicious activity on their accounts.

They would assume the identities of bank personnel from institutions like Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, First Direct, NatWest, Nationwide, and TSB.

The scammers might have gained access to features like one-time passcodes to empty accounts of money through technology after encouraging users to divulge security details.

According to police, as many as 200,000 people in the UK may have fallen for the fraud, with victims losing thousands of pounds and, in one instance, £3 million.

According to Sir Mark, the 70,000 people being called are connected to calls made by known to the police individuals, and their testimony may be used to prosecute crimes.

On Thursday or Friday, the police will send sincere communications, according to the detectives. The victims would be sent to the Metropolitan Police website, where they would be prompted to register with Action Fraud, according to the claims made. Any further texts ought to be taken as frauds in and of themselves.

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