Video: The moment police busted the multimillion-pound iSpoof fraudster

A man who enabled thousands of online fraudsters to con an estimated £100 million out of victims has been jailed for more than a decade.

Tejay Fletcher, 35, of Western Gateway, in Newham, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday to 13 years and four months in prison. Fletcher was behind the website iSpoof, which enabled criminals to appear as if they were calling from banks, tax offices and other official bodies. Confirmed losses to UK victims total £43 million, with estimated global losses in excess of £100 million.

Fletcher previously pleaded guilty to making or supplying articles for use in fraud, encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence, possessing criminal property and transferring criminal property.

iSpoof

Users of iSpoof, who paid for its services, posed as representatives of banks including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds and Halifax, pretending to warn of suspicious activity on their accounts. Scammers would encourage victims to disclose security information.

In the 12 months until August 2022 around 10 million fraudulent calls were made globally via iSpoof, with around 3.5 million of those made in the UK. Of those, 350,000 calls lasted more than one minute and were made to 200,000 individuals. Police appeals led to 340 additional victims coming forward but detectives believe there are many thousands of victims.

Before it was shut down in November, iSpoof was constantly growing. 700 new users were registering with the site every week and it was earning on average £80,000 each week. At the point of closure it had 59,000 registered users.

The website offered a number of packages for users who would buy, in Bitcoin, the number of minutes they wanted to use the software to make calls. iSpoof made just over £3 million with Fletcher profiting by up to £1.9 million. He lived an extravagant lifestyle, owning a Range Rover worth £60,000 and a Lamborghini Urus worth £230,000. He regularly went on holiday, with trips to Jamaica, Malta and Turkey in 2022 alone.

Fletcher spent time marketing iSpoof on the Telegram Channel, The iSpoof Club. Telegram is an encrypted messaging platform, similar to WhatsApp. Fletcher set up the channel to promote iSpoof and would update users and promote updates and developments to the website.

Police investigation

After he was arrested on 6 November 2022, officers searched his home address more than 30 mobile phones and a quantity of SIM cards were found. They also found a Rolex watch, an Audemars Piguet watch and a money counter.

As part of the continued enquiry, 169 individuals have now been arrested on suspicion of using iSpoof in the UK. They all remain under police investigation.

The Met’s Cyber and Economic Crime Units co-coordinated the mammoth investigation with City of London Police, the National Crime Agency, Europol, Eurojust, Dutch authorities and the FBI.

National Crime Agency

National Crime Agency deputy director Paul Foster, head of the National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Fraud can have a devastating impact on victims, so tackling it is a priority for the NCA and our policing partners. Key to our response is targeting the online platforms that supply offenders with the tools and services they use to commit cyber-enabled fraud. We will continue to target criminal infrastructure, and pursue the administrators and users. The protection of victims and their data online is paramount and we are constantly improving our capabilities across law enforcement to help achieve this.”

Met Police

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “The investigative excellence of the detectives who led this case is a great example of expertise at the Met bringing justice for victims, huge thanks must also go to the officer in the case DC Ed Sehmer.”

Detective Superintendent Helen Rance said: “By setting up iSpoof Fletcher created a gateway for thousands of criminals to defraud innocent victims out of millions of pounds. Meanwhile he was living a luxury lifestyle benefitting from the profits. Those who commit fraud have no regard for the life-changing impact it has on innocent victims who have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Fletcher should be thoroughly ashamed. Our wider investigations into the suspected users of iSpoof continue. I’d like to thank our partners who have assisted the investigation. It is vital that anyone who has been a victim of fraud reports what has happened to Action Fraud. Remember, never give out your one-time password and if something doesn’t feel right then stop and take five.”

City of London Police

Commander Nik Adams from the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, said: “This case is an excellent example of how coordinated and collaborative activity across a number of law enforcement agencies can result in a significant court result for victims of fraud and cybercrime. This type of crime will not be tolerated and those who are involved in fraud and cybercrime will be found and brought to justice. We would always encourage members of the public to follow the Take Five to Stop Fraud advice and if you think you have been a victim of fraud, to contact your bank immediately and report to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk.”