Arrests made in Northampton in UK's biggest ever fraud operation

Two men were arrested by officers from Northamptonshire Police’s Serious & Complex Economic Crime Unit as part of the UK’s biggest ever fraud operation.

The investigation, which started in the Metropolitan Police area, aimed to take down an international one stop spoofing shop.

More than 200,000 potential victims in this country alone have been directly targeted through the fraud website iSpoof.

At one stage, almost 20 people every minute of the day were being contacted by scammers hiding behind false identities using the site.

They posed as representatives of banks including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, First Direct, Natwest, Nationwide and TSB.

As part of the operation and in partnership with Scotland Yard’s Cyber Crime Unit, the National Crime Agency and authorities in the US and Ukraine, Northamptonshire Police officers arrested two men aged 23 and 21 in Northampton.

They have both been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

Detective Sergeant Andrea Taylor said: “We were really pleased to be part of this national operation and help take down iSpoof who have been scamming people for far too long.

“We will continue working hard in this County to bring those people who defraud hardworking people out of their money to justice.”