From: RegTech Analyst
Seven out of eight gang members have been jailed after defrauding thousands of people through hacking PayPal and BT accounts.
The group had carried out scams between May 2014 and July 2016 that saw them steal details of more than 2,000 people, the Evening Standard reported.
The prosecutor said the gang had predominantly targeted people in the Hampshire and Portsmouth. Although, they had scammed people from other places across the UK too.
They had accessed PayPal and BT accounts by using stolen personal details and diverting receipt and delivery messages and emails to ensure the victims were none the wiser.
“This was a sophisticated conspiracy to commit fraud which persisted for about two years,” Michael Forster, the prosecutor, tod Portsmouth Crown Court. “The personal details of a large number of members of the public, many who were BT or PayPal customers, were obtained by the fraudsters.
“The customers’ finances were used to fraudulently order high value goods such as watches, jewellery, televisions as well as more mundane items such as furniture or food.”
The prison sentences spanned from the shortest at one year and seven months to the longest at three years and eight months.
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