Its estimated 40 of all crime in england and wales is fraud. Hello, its the police, open up. Fraud, it is a National Security issue. Its funding other organised crime. | you look back now and you think, how stupid were we . Yeah. But at that moment in time, it was. It was quite terrifying. Every year, fraudsters relieve us of an estimated £5 billion. Last year in kent alone, 12,000 frauds were reported. Panoramas been filming there for almost a year with the kent police fraud squad. The groups that operate tend to be from london. The whole of kent, it is targeted because its a quickjourney for them to come and pick up the cash. Weve also got quite an aged population, again, which is who they look to target, often. So it sort ofjust goes hand in hand with the sort of population type. Police are increasingly worried about something they call courierfraud. It begins with a call from a fraudster pretending to be a Police Officer or bank official, and ends with a Courier Collecting Cash or bank cards from your home. When fraudsters called 90 year old jean, she believed it was her bank. I was in bed and the phone rang, so i scrambled to pick it up. And a voice said to me, have you had your debit card . Well, i had had a notice that my debit card was coming to me. I was a bit perturbed so i said, well, no. They said, oh, dear. Oh, dear, your cards been cancelled, in that case. You cant use it. By chance, jean was already expecting a new card. The fraudsters told her it had been lost in the post, so they were cancelling her cards. Jean was then asked if shed like a new pin number. And i said no, i want my old number. Without thinking, immediately said it, what my number was. The scammers now had jeans pin number all they needed to complete the con was to convince her to part with her card. Put the phone down, two seconds later, the phone rang and a womans voice came and said, good afternoon, yes, im here to help you. And she said, we have to get your card back here. It so happens ive got a courier close by, they could come and collect it for me. Have the card ready in an envelope. It sounded very official, and i felt quite confident that the bank was behind me. Jean handed over her debit card to the courier. Within minutes, it was used to withdraw £400 in cash from her account. The following morning, i went to pay the Window Cleaner and i thought, oh, some moneys gone from my bank. At that point, then the penny dropped. The fraudsters had also withdrawn £4,000 from her bank account, after impersonating her on the phone. It completely shook me, and i said to myself, you know, am i all right . Am i coping with life all right . Last summer, kent Police Received 140 reports of courierfraud. Banks in england and wales lost £120 million last year to fraudsters impersonating police or other officials. They normally target an area and hit it hard and are making lots of calls because there will be a lot of people that just realise its a scam and wont engage. Police investigating jeans case are about to make an arrest. Theyve identified a suspect whose bank account was used to hold jeans £4,000. This morning, were going to execute a warrant under section 8 of pace at an address around the corner and its in regards to fraud by false representation. The suspect is whats known as a money mule. Recruited by fraudsters, money mules agreed to allow the stolen cash to be paid into their bank accounts. What were looking for is the mobile phones, so we want to try and get their pin code quite early on. We can see that they will ring many people during one day in an attempt to try and con them. So we will analyse that and youll be able to see when theyve got someone on the hook. The police hope the money mule� s phone will provide evidence to help identify others in the gang. Intelligence on our systems we share with the met, linking this suspect with other frauds. Thats why we made the decision to execute the warrant today. Its the police, can you let us in the block, please . Lock clicks. Thank you. Knock at door. Hello, its the police, open up. Theyre too late. The suspect has already left for work. Well get her. She works at a hospital nearby. Were going to phone her. Its a bit disruptive for us to start going to a hospital. A few days later, the suspect agrees to come in for questioning. She denies being involved in fraud. Tell me about your involvement in this. Ok, so. Alli. What happened is i was seeing someone. Mm hm. And he said to me, oh, i dont have a bank account, my mate owes me money. Can i get it put in your account . I said, yeah, how much . He said, 4,000. Isaid, fine. Then it all happened within like five minutes. The money went in my account. I transferred it to this other girl and thats. Thats literally pretty much all i know. Money mules help to launder stolen cash. By paying dirty money into legitimate bank accounts, the money is instantly cleaned. What were seeing is that a lot of money mules are being recruited, quite openly, on online platforms. It might often be younger people who are asked to do it, and they might walk into it unwittingly and become a money mule, so let their account be used for money laundering. The person that you were seeing, have you got a name for him . He said his names dom. I did have a Mobile Numberfor him. I but he kept always calling on different numbers. Do you know a surname for dom . Not at all. No. Police obtain cctv footage, showing a man believed to be dom. Hes got 90 year old jeans bank card. Hes put the victims bank card into the machine. Put his hood up to cover his identity a little further. Hes entering the pin into the machine. Thats a £250 withdrawal on this occasion. Police are unable to identify the man, and their inquiry hits a dead end. The suspected money mule is let off with a police warning. Jeans case is closed. With courier frauds, we initially look at is it happening now . Is there an Enforcement Opportunity . If thats not the case, our main focus is to try and support the victim and try and get their money back through their banks. Jeans bank has refunded all the money stolen by the fraudsters. You know, it doesnt matter who you are, once youve been targeted, its quite likely they will target you again soon. So ive been tried to be very aware. Nearly a million frauds were reported to police last year in england and wales, but only around 5,300 people were convicted. Goodness me. Last year, geoff and jane were targeted by scammers pretending to be the police. A gentleman said that he was from the police, he was a police inspector, and that money had been taken from our account. He was suggesting that it wanted to be investigated further. The scammer said they wanted geoff and janes help, but what they didnt know was the real police were already onto them, and were also talking to geoff and jane. They said, youve been talking on the phone from a number that weve been tracing. This is a fraudster, and if we were willing to help them, then they might be able to catch the people who were perpetrating these. Mm. These frauds. A detective came to the house and was filming when they got their next call from the scammers. He was very, very. Erm, isuppose, caring. Mm. It was all the time, it was, please, dont worry, youre being brilliant, youre being a great help. Jane and geoff were told that not only were corrupt Bank Officials stealing their money, they were also handling counterfeit notes. The fraudsters told the couple there was a way to catch the bent officials red handed go to the bank and withdraw £5,000 in cash. Right, ok. So you just want me to put the phone down and not. Leave the line open. 0k. The offenders make sure that the victims keep their phone lines open, and the reason for that| is the fact that they cant then be contacted by genuine Police Officers and obviously family. Members and it allows the complete control. And coercion of the victims. She sighs. Yeah. Ooh, thats very true, yes. Yeah, that would be a bit silly, wouldnt it . They laugh. Jane and geoff didnt go to the bank, but under the watchful eye of the police, played along with the counterfeit story, reading out some made up serial numbers. The fraudsters took the bait, saying that many of the notes were fa kes. They sent a courier to pick them up. She chuckles. When the courier arrived, police told jane and geoff not to answer the door. They had the courier under surveillance. As a result of the female courier being followed, l the investigation of that offence is now being looked at on a wider scale, i with a series of similar offences. Geoff and jane didnt lose any money, but the Police Operation failed. No one� s been arrested. Fraudsters often operate across county borders, so Police Forces must work together. Panorama has been given access to a joint fraud special operations unit. Officers from six forces are taking part. Courierfraud is a massive issue, nationally. The team i now represent will look at the organised crime groups solely. Criminals who are sophisticated in their methodology. Knock at door. Police. Knock at door. Yeah, wait. Yeah, open up. Weve got a warrant for your arrest, for the premises to be searched. Can you open up the door, please . Hello, madam, weve got a warrant. Police believe the womans a courier whos been involved in frauds worth almost £100,000. Shes 18 years old. This female weve arrested today represents the courier the person thats going to the victims addresses, tasked by the person who controls her, to collect the cash. She may get a small percentage of that money. From our research, 5 10 , normally. But if you look at it in the context of if shes picking up £5,000 on average a time, or if not more, thats £500 for probably a couple of hours work. Ok, lets start with the first offence that occurred on the 10th December 2021. Collecting the cash makes the courier the most exposed member of the criminal network. By arresting her, police hope to identify others higher up. She was interviewed twice, and this is what shes got to say frustratingly, not a lot. Tell me how you got there. Police have nearly a dozen people who say theyve handed money to this courier. Did you travel by taxi . But the suspect isnt playing ball. She went no comment throughout. Come on. Last summer, jane and mark were targeted by the same gang Police Believe the courier was working for, and they were using a familiar storyline. A man claiming to be a Police Officer phoned mark, saying bank staff had stolen his savings. Mark was initially suspicious. He said, would you like to verify my credentials . I said, well. Yeah, because i really dont want to go any further with it. The bogus Police Officer told mark to check his identity by hanging up and dialling 999. I said, id like to verify a warrant card. She said, yes, what officer . So i gave the name, gave the warrant card. Yes, he is a Police Officer. What mark didnt realise was the scammers hadnt hung up their side of the call. Theyd kept the line open and played a fake dialling tone, so mark thought he was ringing the police. Well, at that point. Wed come together in the office, hadnt we . Yeah. I was sort of saying, whats going on . Mark said, come and help me, somethings going on with our bank account. I was like, how much. How much have we lost, what are we talking . And they said, well, we cant give you that detail but if youd like to phone your own bank by using the number on the back of your bank card, so it alljust seemed very genuine. Whenjane rang the bank, once again, the scammers had kept the line open. Jane was taken in by the woman on the phone. And so she gradually started to go through all these transactions. 10,000 going to nigeria and 10,000 to spain. We absolutely believed. Wed lost it. That wed dialled 999. Yeah. And we absolutely believed wed spoken to our bank. And so therefore you have absolutely no reason to think that there was anything untoward going on. I was actually, like, in tears at that point. Distraught. Because i was saying, you know, theyve taken everything that weve got. Weve ever worked for. With jane and mark convinced their account had been cleaned out, the fake police then told them they could help catch the crooks. They said theyd pay £6,000 into jane and marks account and use it as bait. Alljane and mark had to do was withdraw it. You look back now and you think, how stupid were we . Yeah. But, at that moment in time, it was. It was quite terrifying. And it was very real. And it was so real. Very, very real. And they were very, very convincing. When they got home from the bank, the scammers were still on the line. They said the money was most likely counterfeit and could be used to arrest the corrupt bank staff. That means now that were sitting here with counterfeit money, which then immediately made me feel a little bit uneasy and they said, well, dont worry, well come and collect it from you. A courier collected the £6,000. 0nly afterwards did they realise theyd been scammed. I took the dog out and i still had these Warrant Numbers on a sheet of paper that id written down, and i went to see my friend who is an ex Police Officer. So i said, can you tell me, are these met Police Warrant numbers . And he looked at me and he went, no. Whats up . And at the same point. And hejust said, mate, youve been done. As you came back in the door, i went, it was a scam, and you said, yeah. Police believe the courier who collected the money was the 18 year old arrested in north london. Her case was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service nine months ago. No decision has yet been made about charges. Those higher up in the gang have not been caught. Bringing justice to victims is really important. But we recognise that were not going to stop Courier Fraud Byjust investigating it. So improving awareness to the public so they protect themselves online or on the phone, simple awareness messages. Of course i know a good deal when i see one. If youre the victim of fraud in england, wales and northern ireland, youre encouraged to report it to action fraud. You wouldnt give your information to a stranger, dont do it over the phone. For advice. Action fraud is run by city of London Police on behalf of the government. It also aims to help the public avoid being scammed. Hi, mrs walker . Yes . Can you please tell me your password . Normally you only ask for two digits. But due to the nature of the circumstances, im afraid were going to have to go with a slightly higher security. Action fraud hasjust 95 staff at its call centre. Last year, they received almost 1,000 crime reports a day. Sir bob neill chairs the Parliamentary Committee which has been looking at how fraud is handled. Theres increasing frustration with people that, when they report fraud to action fraud at the moment, it really is a bit of a black hole. And theres no real care, it seemed to us, for victims of fraud. Frankly, we concluded it wasnt fit for purpose. Of the 30,000 crimes reported to action fraud each month, only 1,500 are passed to police to investigate. If we look at a case and its just not solvable, whether money has left the uk or for whatever reason, we wouldnt necessarily send the case out to that police force to investigate because they cant investigate it. The second issue will be where we know due to resources that that local police force will only investigate a certain amount within a certain criteria. So we will hold back from sending out some of those cases as well. In kent, 12,000 reports were made to Action Fraud Last year. Just 500 were passed on to police. So out of those 500, when we look at going to the criminaljustice system, around 4 is what we call our detection rate, which means they ended up in charges from the Crown Prosecution Service. 4 detection rate means just 20 possible court cases from 12,000 complaints. Action fraud says its planning improvements. We are actually implementing new technology for action fraud for 2024. We need to be much better at explaining to victims how the process works and whats happening with their cases. Some people become Repeat Victims of fraud. Likejo and corinne� s mum, carol, who has dementia. This is mums house. Lived here since 1976. Thats quite nice, actually. Certainly happy memories with mum and dad here. Yeah. That dont look too good, that one, does it . Dad took early retirement and lived life to the full. Erm. And unfortunately, he died when he was 68. Jo and corinne� s dad, trevor, was an engineer and amateur racing driver. When he died in 2012, carol didnt have to worry about money. He had a lovely pension to leave mum and, you know, they had a place in new zealand that he sold just before he died and there was a lot of money from that. You know, she was set up. But just a few years after her husband died, carol was targeted by fraudsters, selling her fake investment schemes. One of mums Financial Advisers was worried. Mum had asked to release more money. And he was slightly worried about her behaviour. When they looked through their mums Bank Statements, jo and corinne were in for a shock. Shed ended up on a fraudster� s hit list and had become the victim of repeated scams. After reporting losses of more than £140,000, her bank tried to get back some of her money. November 2018. 2,500 recovered from 142,000. Oh, thats unbelievable. Yeah. Sick. Were particularly concerned about Investment Scams because often they involve. Life changing sums of money. The fraudsters work on the i victim over a period of time. So its notjust one investment, and perhaps the victim might even see some return, initially. But they are drawn into the scam, so therefore get duped out of huge sums of money. Another fraudster� s been taking money from carol for years. Hes told her shes investing her money in diamonds. Again, her Bank Statements show the extent of the fraud. This is one file weve found, which mums been making monthly transfers to. 240, the 12th april. The 20th april, 290. Another one in may, 480. Its every. Every page that you look at is more payments. They amount to between 1,500 and 2,000 a month. And this has been going on for about nine years. All bank transfers. So about 25,000 a year. And shes still received nothing. Carols still receiving calls from the fraudster, who calls himself david. Shes already paid him at least £200,000. But he wants more. Message tone beeps david, thats all we know him as. Hes the one who phones mum and asks her to pay by credit. Phone keypad beeps jo and corinne have already reported david to the police, but theyre keeping in touch with him, hoping hell give them a clue that could help find him and their mums stolen money. Hello, david. Its carols daughter again. Oh, hello, there. How are you doing, are you ok . Yes. I was listening to your message on the answer machine. Im just a bit worried youre not going to cancel mums account, are you . 0k, thank you. 0k, david, thank you. Thanks for that. Bye bye. Ok, bye bye. Its Notjust A One Off theyve been preying on herfor nine years now. And thats what. Thats what makes it, you know, theyve befriended her and built up some sort of relationship with mum. And she actually believes what theyre saying. You know . She does. Thats the sad part. Police discover that davids been calling from india. That meansjo and corinne have almost no chance of recovering their mums money. Even when there is an investigation, its quite common for that investigation to reach an end of life cycle, where money has left the uk, its gone to a foreign jurisdiction that we cannot access and unfortunately we cannot progress that case. And thats very sad for us to tell that victim that that investigation cant continue. Police have had some successes in their fight against fraud. Last year, a joint uk us operation shut down a scammers website and arrested more than 100 people whod been using it. Since march 2020, surveys suggest theres been a 25 rise in fraud in england and wales. In the same period, the number of convictions dropped from around 11,000 tojust over 6,000. The rewards for the fraudsters are very significant and very substantial because they are ruthless and organised people. 40 of all recorded crime, at least, but only 2 of dedicated police resources. Thats a massive mismatch, and that then feeds its way through into why there is so little proactive work to prevent it and why victims feel that theyre almost forgotten about. The sense that its treated as a victimless crime. The government says its committed to. It says its spent an extra £400 million on tackling economic crime, and has plans to publish a fraud strategy to stop Fraud Attempts at source, and. For the victims of fraud, the damage can be long lasting. I cant believe that other human beings can do this to other humans. Its. Its the most unkindest, nastiest thing. With so few fraud cases being solved, those whove fallen prey to scams have a warning for all of us. We didnt consider ourselves vulnerable but obviously we were. But theres a lot more vulnerable than us. So you just feel for everybody thats been through it. We had no physical presence in the house but for a good couple of months afterwards, itjust felt like wed been violated. This is bbc news. Welcome, if youre watching here in the uk, or around the globe. Im lisa marie misztak. Our top stories america says a Russian Fighterjet has forced one of its Surveillance Drones to crash into the black sea, using tactics that have been condemned by officials. Several times before the collision, the su 27 has dumped fuel on and flew in front of the mq9 in a reckless and unprofessional manner. 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