Victim of the iSpoof banking fraud? Refundee can help
70,000 members of the UK public have been sent SMS messages confirming that they were targeted by scammers using a website called iSpoof and it is feared as many as 200,000 people lost money to the fraud. Scammers using the site typically ran safe account scams that Refundee has consistently warned about, where they would call on your bank’s phone number telling you your account was under attack and you had to urgently move your money out.
Victims of the iSpoof fraud are being advised to contact Action Fraud to report their scams to ensure a police investigation is done. These police investigations could result in arrests and prosecution. However, they rarely secure fraud victims' money back. Refundee can help victims to get their money back where they have been scammed. For a free consultation, call us on 0204 525 4600 or fill in our no obligation claim form.
What is the iSpoof scam?
iSpoof was a website that allowed scammers to ‘spoof’ the numbers of banks and other institutions. It was used by scammers to call victims pretending to be that organisation, usually the victims bank, convincing them their account was under attack and they needed to move the money to a new safe account’. This “safe account'' is one controlled by the scammers. ISpoof therefore enabled a huge amount of fraud, and was one of the bigger companies offering this type of service to fraudsters. They were key players in what has become fraud on an industrial scale.
At one stage almost 20 people every minute of the day were being contacted by scammers hiding behind false identities created using the site and it is estimated that criminals may have stolen close to £50m. In the year to August around 10m fraudulent calls were made globally via iSpoof, with approximately 3.5m of those made in the UK. 350,000 of those calls lasted more than one minute and were made to 200,000 individuals. These are likely the individuals being contacted by the police this week.
What have the police done in the iSpoof case?
A joint police fraud sting operation across multiple countries has led to the iSpoof website being taken down, and the individual allegedly running the site arrested and taken into custody. Victims lost thousands of pounds, and in one case £3m. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described the investigation as the biggest proactive counter-fraud investigation ever in the UK. He claimed that there could be as many as 200,000 victims in the UK.
They have also identified a large number of victims' phone numbers by accessing the site. And the police have said they will proactively contact all of those potential victims, asking them to report the scams to Action Fraud.
I have lost money to a ‘safe account’ or ‘spoofing’ scam. Can Refundee help?
If you have lost money to this type of scam, Refundee can help you get your money back from your bank and you can fill in our fraud refund claim form for a free consultation. Our fee is 15% plus VAT on anything that we get back, and we don't charge anything if we are not successful. For larger cases, the fee is subject to a maximum of £10k plus VAT per case.
Remember you don’t need to use a company like Refundee, you could work your case yourself for free! If you’d like to get a refund yourself, you can do this by following our bank transfer refund guide.
I have received an SMS from the police, how do I know it is genuine?
If you police have sent you an SMS message, avoid clicking links and contact Action Fraud directly on their website. That will ensure you have bypassed any potential malicious SMS messages pretending to be the police.
How can I protect myself from ‘spoofing’ scams?
Never trust the number that has called you or sent you an SMS. Hang up, and find the organisations trusted number online and contact them there
The bank will never ask you to send money to a safe account or to give them codes sent to your device. If someone claiming to be them asks you to do this, it is a scam and you should end the call
They would never call out of the blue asking for person details and codes so if they do, just hang up
If anyone ever contacts you saying it is your bank, no matter how urgent they say it is just hang up and call the firm yourself on the number on the back of your card or dial 159
If the person on the line is pushy or even threatening, they are a scammer as a legitimate firm would never make you feel pressured
