14 DAY TRIAL // Three members of an international phishing organization were sentenced to a total of thirteen and a half years in prison on Friday at Snaresbrook Crown Court in UK.
Ayodeji John Kareem, 38, Vincent Alonge, 31, and Babatunde Fafore, 41, were arrested together with four other individuals last August following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service's Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU).
Dubbed Operation Dynamophone, the investigation targeted a gang of fraudsters who used well-crafted phishing emails and web pages to trick bank customers into exposing their personal and financial information.
Prosecutors claimed that during the course of their activity, the fraudsters compromised over 900 bank accounts and 10,000 credit cards.
Furthermore they are believed to have successfully stolen £599,000 from the bank accounts and £570,000 from the compromised cards.
At the time of their arrest, the suspects had in their possession computer scripts required to operate forty bogus bank websites which they used in their scheme.
They were charged with conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to acquire and use criminal property, possession of a false identity document with the requisite intent and possession of articles for use in fraud.
Kareem pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges and was sentenced to three and a half years and five years, five months respectively. He will serve the highest sentence.
Alonge pleaded guilty to the possession counts and received a combined sentence of two and a half years, while Fafore pleaded guilty to the first two charges and received sentences of four years and five years, seven months respectively. The other suspects were released with no charges.
"In collaboration with law enforcement colleagues and industry partners both in the UK and overseas we are working to identify and bring to justice those committing serious and organised offences of this nature online, and to reduce the harm they cause to innocent individuals and to the economy. These convictions represent a significant step forward," said DI Colin Wetherill from the Police Central e-Crime Unit.