iSpoof scammer guilty of £100m scam sentenced to 13 years

A fraudster who scammed people out of more than £100 million worldwide has been sentenced to 13 years in jail.

Tejay Fletcher, 35, founded and ran a complex banking scam called iSpoof, brought down last year in the UK’s biggest fraud operation.

The website allowed criminals to appear as if they were calling from banks and tax offices in order to trick victims.

Fletcher, of Western Gateway in east London, pleaded guilty to four fraud-related charges last month.

Judge Sally Cahill KC said it had been a “heartbreaking experience” for all the victims.

As part of the scam, scammers using iSpoof could disguise phone calls to appear to be from a trusted organization.

Then, posing as employees of those companies or agencies, they would call random people and warn them of suspicious activity on their accounts.

Victims were encouraged to reveal security information, and through technology, criminals could have accessed features such as one-time passcodes to wipe out people’s money accounts.

The scammers posed as employees of banks including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, First Direct, NatWest, Nationwide and TSB.

The judge said the £100m global loss was a conservative estimate and the figure could have been higher.

In the UK alone, £43 million was lost and one victim lost £3 million. The average loss among the 4,785 people who reported being targeted by Action Fraud was £10,000.

The iSpoof website made around £3.2 million in Bitcoin cryptocurrency, and the “lion’s share” ended with Fletcher, according to prosecutor John Ojakovoh.

Fletcher, who has 18 previous convictions, earned around £2m from the website and bought a £230,000 Lamborghini, two £110,000 Range Rovers and an £11,000 Rolex.

He pleaded guilty last month to charges including manufacturing or supplying an item for use in fraud, encouraging or assisting in the commission of a crime, possession of criminal property, and criminal property transfer, between November 30, 2020, and November 8, 2020. of 2022.

He has been sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison.

Sentencing Fletcher, Judge Sally Cahill KC said she “didn’t care” for those who had been let down, adding: “The belated expression of remorse is regret at being caught rather than empathy for their victims.

“The evidence, in my opinion, shows very clearly that you had a leading role and an active role in creating a sophisticated item for fraud, which generated a substantial profit for you.”

What makes this case unusual is that the thousands who lost money through sophisticated scams were not direct victims of Fletcher and his junior associates, but were all victims of fraud facilitated directly by the iSpoof website.

The indictment described a business set up such that elements of detailed research and development on the one hand, and marketing on the other, encouraged criminals to profit.

Kate Anderson, deputy chief prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the cost to many of the victims “has not just been financial”.

“It has also had a great emotional impact, causing extreme distress and devastation to those affected, many of whom had their life savings stolen,” he said.

Describing the case as “complex and challenging”, Ms Anderson thanked the Metropolitan Police for their help in securing the evidence.

The Met investigation involved 700 work days and three detectives.

The force said that at its peak, iSpoof had 59,000 users, and at one point up to 20 people per minute were attacked by callers using technology purchased from the site.

Users of the website, which was launched in December 2020, paid hundreds or thousands of pounds a month for its features, which were traded in a channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram called the “iSpoof club”.

Last year, the Met sent text messages to 70,000 people warning them that their data had been compromised and that they had probably been scammed.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “Shutting down iSpoof has been the biggest fraud operation ever to take place in the UK and it was a collective effort.”

He said the force was proud to have brought down the “criminals at the top of this fraudulent network”, describing them as “heartless people”.

Simon Baker KC, defending, said Fletcher was an “extremely bright young man” who has a young son, adding: “It is extremely unfortunate that the intellect is not channeled into gainful pursuits.”

“His guilty plea reflects his genuine regret and remorse for his actions and his sincere desire to apologize to those who have suffered as a result of the frauds perpetrated against them as a result of the iSpoof website.”

Commenting on how people can protect themselves against scams, cybersecurity analyst Jake Moore told BBC News: “Unfortunately, the onus is on the public.

“Don’t instantly trust caller ID; the fact is, we can’t believe everything we see. And never hand over sensitive information, especially from a cold call.”

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