Gang of ‘phising’ fraudsters who stole woman’s £1m life savings blew it on cheeseburgers, champagne and gold
Victim fell prey to ‘phishing’ scam and revealed her personal details
She receiving bogus bank email from Egyptian national Tamer Abdelhamid
Money was spent during three-day shopping trip in New Year sales
By ANTHONY BOND
Published: suspicious 17:40 BST, 9 May 2013 | Updated: 00:43 BST, 10 May 2013
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A gang of fraudsters who fleeced a woman out of her £1million life savings and blew the cash on cheeseburgers, gold and computers are facing jail.
The victim fell prey to a ‘phishing’ scam in which she unwittingly revealed her personal details after receiving a bogus bank email from Egyptian national, Tamer Abdelhamid.
Most of the money was spent during a lavish three-day shopping extravaganza in the New Year sales in January 2012.
According to detectives gang members blew their cash on items ‘ranging from cheeseburgers to high-end computers and gold’.
Prosecuted: A gang of fraudsters who fleeced a woman out of her £1million life savings and blew the cash are facing jail. Gang member Rilwan Adesegun Oshodi, is pictured left, and Annette Jabeth, right
Using the online moniker ‘Aimless88’, Abdelhamid, 24, sold on the information for £3,200 to Nigerian national, Rilwan Oshodi, 29, before Annette Jabeth, 26, originally from Sierra Leone, pretended to be the victim and arranged for her bank details to be changed.
The British victim was living in South Africa at the time of the fraud in December 2011, oblivious to the fact the cash was being siphoned out of her account.
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During a raid of Oshodi’s home last year, detectives discovered computers with details of more than 11,000 credit cards, including those of almost 8,500 UK customers – worth an estimated £2.5million loss to the banking industry.
Police worked closely with the banking industry to identify many of those involved and subsequently arrested them in March, April and September 2012, following a series of co-ordinated raids across London and the West Midlands.
Fraud: The victim fell prey to a ‘phishing’ scam in which she unwittingly revealed her personal details. This picture shows Rilwan Adesegun Oshodi with what appear to be bottles of champagne
Oshodi poses with bottles of champagne. He denied two counts of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime
Cash sandwich: According to detectives gang members blew their cash on items ‘ranging from cheeseburgers to high-end computers and gold’
Abdelhamid and Jabeth admitted their part in the scam but Oshodi denied two counts of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime.
He was convicted by a jury following a trial.
Brothers Shumail Butt, 21, and Shaharyar, 25, both formerly of Hounslow, Middlesex, were both jailed for 12 months in August last year for their part as ‘mules’ in the con.
They have both since been deported to Pakistan after admitting to being concerned in the acquisition of criminal property.
Fellow mules included Chika Okala, 28, who admitted conspiracy to defraud, while Sharna Eve, 20, and a youth who cannot be named, admitted being concerned in the acquisition of criminal property.
Convictions: Members of the gang are now facing sentence at Southwark Crown Court, pictured
Jabeth, of Thamesmead, southeast London; Oshodi, of Thamesmead, Okala, of Hackney, east London; Eve, of Tilbury, Essex, together with the youth and Abdelhamid, are all facing sentence at Southwark Crown Court.
Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie said: ‘This is an excellent example of what can be achieved when police work together with industry to tackle the top tier of cyber crime.
‘In this case the internet was used to allow disparate criminals to collude regardless of global location, time zone or legal framework. The victim of the crime was in South Africa while the suspects were in Egypt and the UK.
‘While the internet can be a fantastic resource, it can also be used to commit old crimes in new ways. It is important that internet users are alert to the risks posed by the ingenuity of online criminals who seek to steal our money.’
