Im a London Scammer, i see it, i want it, i click it. Nights in the Bando Pyrex whipping. So hes saying, im making all this money and if you want to make this money, heres how you do it. My name is Kaf Okpattah and im investigating what happens when fraud goes viral. There is one crime that is the most commonly experienced of all. Fraud. It makes up 40 of all criminal activity in the uk. During the pandemic it boomed, costing us all more than £2 billion in a year. For many the crime begins with a dodgy text. Ive found out where some of the messages like these are coming from. Earlier this year, Emmeline Hartley was fooled by a text from fraudsters. Well, there was a text, first of all, from the Royal Mail. It said on the Text Delivery failed you need to pay £2. 99 additional postage paid. And ive paid that before. And it kept directing me to the Royal Mail website. And then i clicked back and scrolled around and then i entered my details. And then i got a Phone Call the next day, which was on my birthday, from my bank. In fact, it was the fraudsters. Because they had used the information she had entered to the fake Royal Mail website, she believed it was her bank. They convinced her to transfer her money into a different account to protect it. Emmeline suddenly realised she had just paid over £1000 to criminals everything she had. Ijust broke down on the phone. He was still on the phone. Ijust started crying and hes still trying to calm me down, knowing full well at this point, theres nothing else he could get out of me and eventuallyjust gave up and hung up, to which point ijust, i wailed. Emmeline shared her story online. It went viral. It led to messages of support, and she got her money back from the bank. But emmeline also received disturbing messages. I started to get other messages from people who were supposedly within the Scammers Network as well, which were a bit worrying. So a few of them sent me screenshots of the Scammers Bank Account with my money in it, in the exact transactions that id sent, the exact figures. So i knew, obviously, that it had come from them. Its surprising how public and open it is. Like its almost as if its not illegal. The photo that showed emmeline� s money going into another Bank Account was posted by someone calling themselves Uncle Vio. I want to find out more about him and what hes up to. It turns out this little green king has been marketing himself on Social Media as a fraud consultant. � with the economy in a rough spot, generating a legal source of income has become tough. But Uncle Vio is here to assist you. � this promotional video was posted on snapchat. � you could potentially earn anywhere from £2000 to £4,000 Uncle Vio offers a way into fraud. � so if youre interested, dont hesitate to message us today at Uncle Vio for more information. Might be professional and modern but this is old fashioned crime. As his victims know only too well. Sending out fraudulent Text Messages like the one that tricked emmeline is known as spamming. We wanted to find out how easy it would be to become a spammer ourselves. Uncle vio was ready to help. Hes been advertising on snapchat for people to work with him. And hes easily reached through the messaging app telegram. He got back to us immediately. It cost £100 in bitcoin to buy our way in. He explained that he was offering a fake website for Spamming Phone Numbers or leads. For £15 more he said he would spam 4000 leads on our behalf. Ive never met Uncle Vio but thanks to a couple of apps on my phone and £115, i could have tried to defraud thousands of people. Obviously i couldnt take part in the fraud, so i didnt take him up on the offer. Instead, i asked if we could supply some numbers. Vio agreed to the deal. But all of the Phone Numbers belonged to me. Sure enough, i was targeted. It was scammers pretending to offer me a phone contract. You said you needed my bank details, is that right . Yeah. What details would you need . So we will need like the Sort Code and the account number. Well also take the Card Number and the Security Code for taking the first payment of £29. I should probably let you know that im actually a Bbc Reporter for panorama. Its pretty obvious that youre trying to scam me, how can you do that . Its only like to give you a contract. Its clearly not though. Any normal provider. Go to hell with your cvv passcode. Hangs up. Uncle vio appears to be running a sort of criminal enterprise. But we havent been able to identify him. After we wrote to Uncle Vio on Social Media, he phoned us, using his alias. He said he doesnt actually commit fraud himself but has people working for him. When asked about Defrauding Emmeline he said, that was one of my boys. That wasnt even me. After we wrote to snapchat, Uncle Vios account was closed for violating community guidelines. Criminals like Uncle Vio used to hide on the dark web, but now they dont need to. Social media can give them enough anonymity to escape investigation. Anonymous accounts are leaving notjust a small amount of breadcrumbs to investigate them, there are no breadcrumbs, there is no additional footprint left behind them, so to investigate this is nearly impossible. This anonymity has enabled some Social Media fraudsters to build influential brands without the fear of being caught. And theres one in particular that stands out. Meet tankz. Listen im a London Scammer, i see it, i want it i click it. Nights in the Bando Pyrex whippin. He keeps his true identity hidden while rapping and bragging about fraud on Social Media. This track has been played nearly 7 Million times on youtube. From time to time he even posts a bit of life advice. It doesnt matter if its legal or illegal at The End of day its still a hustle. He is probably, you know, one of the influencers out there when it comes to this kind of stuff. He wants to be the Kim Kardashian of fraud. Tankz is on youtube, twitter, instagram, snapchat and tiktok. Hes built his reputation through a web of the biggest Social Media platforms. With a total of over 150,000 followers, tankz is a Social Media influencer who promotes crime. Fraudsters on Social Media have brought this kind of crime to a new audience. Ive gone back to my Old School to meet some year 12s. These students are not involved in fraud themselves but have agreed to talk me through what School Kids are finding on Social Media. When did you start seeing fraud specific posts on Social Media . Id say around year 10. So thats like 15 . On Social Media. Has this become like a thing for young people . Yeah, definitely. No one really brags about other crimes. You dont really hear people say, oh yeah, i robbed that house last night. So thats why if its on Social Media, its everywhere, youve seen the lifestyle, youve seen everything, then theres no reason for you to think its really bad. I think its very much glamorised all over Social Media to have the rich lifestyle. And so it doesnt really matter how you get there. The fraudsters, theyre thinking as its not myi pocket, i dont care. But they dont actually sit there and think whose pocket is it coming out of. That person is losing out on their money. | theyre not going to. Get that money back. For the Social Media generation, theres a gateway to crime that they hold in the palm of their hand every day. Online fraud against Uk Retailers is on the rise. On Social Media its known as clicking. Last year its thought to have cost the Uk Economy over a quarter of A Billion pounds. Tankz, the man in the mask, doesntjust rap about fraud. Hes been selling how to guides about clicking. Theyre known as methods. Hes promoting a lifestyle, which is what influencers do. So hes saying, im making all this money and if you want to make this money, heres how you do it. You have to buy these methods off me. We posed as someone interested in learning about fraud. We asked Tankz For A Guide via instagram. He offered us a set of how to guides to choose from. We chose what he called the expert guide. It cost £100. The files he sent contain multiple techniques to commit fraud. Were not going to reveal his tricks, but i can tell you these Methods Target major brands. And theres even a way to con the taxpayer by defrauding the universal credit system. We showed the guide to fraud expert, tim ayling. Based on what youve seen there, im guessing it poses a threat or. . Oh yeah, forsure. I mean what hes doing here is finding weaknesses in systems of different companies and advertising that. I mean the price, £100, hes got to be selling that a lot for it to be worthwhile for him to do this so for sure, theres going to be a lot of takers and that in itself is an issue. Tankz is still selling these guides, hes still making money from them, does that mean that retailers, banks, even the government, havent clocked onto his methods . Certainly in the Finance World and to an extent the retail world, there is a lot of technology that they have in place to stop as much as they can. The reality is that its very difficult to stop everything. Tankz� s tiktok, Instagram And Snapchat accounts were closed after we wrote to the Social Media companies. Twitter said he was not in breach of their guidelines. Youtube didnt close his account, but said they strictly prohibit videos that promote violence or criminal activity�. Many of the Clicking Methods Being circulated by people like tankz rely on the fraudsters getting hold of stolen personal information. This information is known as fullz. We kind of use the Term Fullz now, full financial profile essentially is what that stands for and we know that criminal can get these through the likes of phishing attacks. So they might send you an email, get you to click a link, fill out all your details. And once theyve captured that information, what are they doing with it . Essentially they will sell that. Again, fraudsters are using Social Media for their marketing. Sometimes, they even give away free samples of fullz. Like on this account on instagram. My name is kaf, im a reporterfrom the bbc. Some of the Phone Numbers of the victims were listed so i gave them a call. I was just wondering if you were aware that your details were online. I dont want to scare you. Its all sitting there on instagram. Im sorry about this. Its clear that the details are real. Ill let you go right now so you can double check your account. I felt as if i was the one violating their privacy. No, no, that wasnt nice. I know. After making the calls, we reported this post to instagram using their Reporting Tool. But they left it up there for a month. I went to meet one of the people whose information had been posted. I showed him what wed found. I can see basically all my details, i can see my full name, i can see my fully address, my number of my phone, the number of my card. My account number, my Sort Code. So basically i can see my whole life here. Whats going through your head having looked at that . Its scary because you never realise how unprotected you are. Weve reported it to instagram but they havent taken it down. If its still there that means they, they dont, they dont care about us. Wilson had cancelled his card by the time the post went up. But with the help of instagram, Social Media fraudsters now have his personal information. After we wrote to instagrams pr team, the post was finally taken down. But they didnt explain why it stayed up for so long. Facebook who own instagram told us fraudulent activity is banned and they take strong action wherever possible to remove it. They say theyve launched a new Reporting Tool within the facebook app. So what is the government doing to tackle online fraud and its promotion on Social Media . Earlier in the year, they unveiled plans to reduce illegal and harmful digital content. Its called the online safety bill. The world wide web was, of course, invented by a brit, and now the uk is setting a Safety Standard for the rest of the world to follow. The proposed laws were initially aimed at tackling things like online hatred and abuse, not fraud. But after pressure from consumer groups, the banks and the police, the government changed its mind. The government announced that they did want posts about fraud to be covered by the rules after all. But im reading the draft of the new laws and i cant see any mention of fraud anywhere. Fraud experts say it is included in what the bill refers to as illegal content but for some, thats not enough. It shows that they had no thought prior to the bill drafting to include fraud. After a bit of campaigning they said, ok, it should include fraud, but it doesnt actually do very much to hold the companies that are providing these online Media Platforms to account. This bill is not fit for purpose for the war against fraud. Its miles off. The government says the new laws would increase Peoples Protection from scams. They said that including fraud in the bill is just one part of our plan to tackle fraud. And they continue to pursue fraudsters and close down the vulnerabilities they exploit. Social media fraudsters have their eyes on our Bank Accounts. So banks and businesses are fighting back. Theyve brought in new systems to verify their customers transactions including the one time passcode. But criminals are finding more and more ways around it. Now the one time passcode is essentially sent to your Mobile Phone so that you can authorise a transaction, but what we know is that criminals are often socially engineering the victim to get that one time passcode, you know. Carina schneider knows how easy it is to be caught out. It started with a Call She thought was from her bank. They call you telling you your account has been compromised, lets go through security, and they go through security, they know your name, they know your address, they know your date of birth. She said im going to send you now a one time passcode, and then you just read the information to me please. And thats what i did. Carina had unwittingly given the criminals the one time passcode which is used to authorise activity on an account. They say that my current account was compromised. They would cancel my card, open a new account and then my money would be safe, but that was just the beginning of it, because i had savings as well. How much money ended up in this new account . £7,192. She was refunded by her bank but it looks like the criminals got away with it. I feel like how stupid was i to believe this, and i do read a lot, i see the news, and i didnt realise how damaging was this one time passcode. Stealing one time passcodes is a growing criminal trend. I started investigating how one gang offered to help fraudsters do it with a highly professional automated service. Otp agency marketed themselves through the telegram app. They used videos like this to advertise their services while hiding who they were. The group was even on the Review Site Trust pilot. It was a highly rated service. So how did it work . Imagine a criminal client of Otp Agency has got hold of your details. They try to buy something and when they do, your bank sends you a one time passcode to check that it is you making the payment. At this point, the criminal uses Otp Agency to trigger a Robo Call to you, posing as your bank. Ive obtained a demonstration of one of these calls from inside Otp Agency. It shows just how convincing they can be. John seymore, this is an automated call from halifax bank. They pretend to be calling to prevent fraud. They say if you want to stop the transaction, you need to give them your one time passcode. An authorised payment of £85. 23 was made using your Debit Card ending in 1312. In order to cancel this transaction, please enter the code that you received by Text Message followed by the Hash Key after the beep. If you follow these instructions, the criminals will have everything they need to take your money. I was not the only one investigating them. I discovered an american cyber intelligence firm, Scylla Intel was also on the case. My professional focus is disrupting financially motivated cybercrime. Were not revealing his identity for security reasons. Are services like Otp Agency, are they a one off . I would describe it as a growing market. And whereas fraud is this nebulous term, whats developed now are these services that makes cybercrime incredibly approachable. Scylla was looking into a wider network of uk based cyber fraud groups, including Otp Agency. But after information was shared with the police, Otp Agency suddenly disappeared. It doesnt seem to have deterred others from offering a similar service. This colourful cartoon looks like a gateway into serious crime using one time passcodes. Use our service to intercept your otps or telepins from your target. Ispoof is here to help. The Cat And Mouse game would always continue with criminals and police, but it is just about the distance in between the cat and the mouse. Can you say, who is winning in that Cat And Mouse game . I would have to say right now, criminals are winning. In the world of cybercrime, its easy to stay anonymous and hidden. But theres one Social Media fraudster whos not as clever as he thinks he is. Remember tankz . Hes the guy who raps about fraud who sold me a fraud guide. I think ive worked out where he is. And im on the way there now. Tankz� posts about life as a fraudster reveal more than he intended. In this Video Tankz is heard saying hes a uni student. Do your parents know you click . Yes, but because im at uni, its made them kind of more accepting of it. In this clip, he suggests he lives in the wembley area of North West london. Im gonna go to kings cross, head back to wembley from there. But the most distinctive thing in his videos that ive noticed is this. The black and grey carpet. I think ive matched it to a Student Accommodation Block near here. Another right and hopefully when we start going down were going to be On The Road to tankz� s apartment. Left up ahead, thats good. Now were in the right place, the question is how will i recognise the anonymous London Scammer . Again, tankz has given too much away online. Earlier in the year, he posted a video of a Run In with the police in which he accidentally revealed his number plate. When i searched official records, i could see that it is a Grey Vauxhall corsa. All i have to do is find the car. Thats it, that right there, thats tankz� car. Thats his number plate, its a Grey Vauxhall. All thats left now is to wait for tankz. So we did. And when he turned up we were there. The first confirmed pictures of tankz. Theyre so good, you can pretty much id him from this. So who is he . An Ebay Account In The Name Of Tankz gives a clue an Email Address for a luke joseph. Weve been told Theres Someone with that name who lives in the Student Accommodation where the vauxhall was parked. And then theres this an Apple Music Page suggests the writer of this Tankz Song was lukejoseph. The Clothes Match and so does the name. It seems that tankz, the London Scammer may be a London Student called luke. This is a talented individual who clearly is clever. But using those skills for something that in my mind is criminal and is wrong, if tankz is prosecuted there is a real Risk Hell Face prison. We wrote to Lukejoseph And Tankz about our allegations. There was no response. All the Social Media companies who responded to our questions say they have rules against fraudulent activity. They all said they take Enforcement Action against violations, work with Law Enforcement agencies, and are developing new ways to combat fraud. Only telegram did not respond to our request for a comment. Social media has transformed how criminals work. You can now appeal to hundreds, thousands, millions of people in one go by a simple Social Media post. Its helping to fuel an epidemic of crime. It seems the government and Social Media companies are struggling to stop the spread. Social media is now the area of expertise for criminals because we are immersed in it, so theyre immersed in it. So, Social Media companies need to realise that theyre part of the problem. The Uks Number one crime is going viral. Keep an eye out for the Social Media fraudsters next time, they could be coming for you. This is bbc news. Our top stories the taliban Take Centre Stage their leader says the rights of women will be respected as long as they adhere to islamic laws. Translation will be Nothing Auainst translation will be nothing against Women Translation will be nothing against women in translation will be nothing against women in our translation will be nothing against women in our ruling. L against women in our ruling. Our people accept our women are muslims. They accept islamic rule. If they live according to sharia, we will be happy. The leaders of the g7 nations are to meet to discuss their response to the taliban and what to do if promises are not kept. 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