Six people have been given jail sentences after defrauding the public out of more than £37m in one of the largest UK online crime cases brought to court.
The group set up and operated a number of “copycat websites”, which impersonated official government services to sell passports, driving licences and other key documents for hugely inflated prices. The convictions and sentences followed one of the biggest investigations undertaken by the National Trading Standards eCrime Team.
The convictions and sentences were handed down following two trials – one in July 2017 and another that ended this week. The convictions and sentences relating to the July 2017 trial can only now be reported.
The individuals – who received sentences of varying lengths – are Peter Hall, Claire Hall, Syed Bilal Zaidi, Collette Ferrow, Liam Hincks and Kerry Mill, all of various addresses across the UK.
The July 2017 trial heard how the defendants set up copycat websites through the company Tadservices Limited between January 2011 and November 2014. These mimicked official websites run by 11 government agencies and departments and manipulated search engine results to appear more genuine.
Hundreds of thousands of purchasers were duped into paying more than they needed for new or replacement passports, visas, birth and death certificates, driving licences, driving tests, car tax discs and the London congestion charge.
The criminals also set up websites that mimicked the American, Cambodian, Sri Lankan, Turkish and Vietnamese official visa sites where travellers could apply and pay for electronic visas. It is believed that in addition to UK consumers, Indian, Turkish and US citizens were also defrauded.
The illegal profits funded a glamorous lifestyle for the defendants, with extravagant spending on expensive cars and luxury holidays. At one stage Claire Hall was preparing to buy a house for £1.4m in cash when the authorities intervened.
“These convictions represent an important milestone in the fight against online fraud,” said Lord Harris, the chair of National Trading Standards. “This was a huge fraud and a very large number of people lost money as a result of the malicious actions of these criminals.”
Handing down sentence on Tuesday, Judge Sean Morris said: “The internet is now the most frequently used marketplace. It is full of busy people in a rush who don’t have time. There is a lot of money to be made by dishonest people out of the honest people who don’t have time to check that a site is an official government service.”
