Met Police to message victims of fraud

The Met Police have sent either a text message, email, or letter to the victims of a cyber gang to advise them that their personal data has been stolen.

The messages follow the Met’s work in busting LabHost, a global cyber gang, suspected of defrauding victims on an industrial scale, which resulted in arrests around the world, including the UK.

As many as 70,000 UK victims are believed to have been tricked by the online scam, which obtained 480,000 card numbers and 64,000 PINs globally.

The Met Police have taken the unusual step of contacting all the victims directly.

Many will be unaware that their personal details have been stolen as the websites they visited would have looked like a company they recognised such as their bank, mobile phone, or other trusted organisation.

While on the websites, they would have been encouraged to enter their details such as email address, phone number, or bank details, which were then taken and in some cases, used, by the cyber gang.

In their correspondence, the Met Police will include the details of the company that has been impersonated to help victims better understand what steps need to be taken.

How do you know if you’re a victim of the cyber scammers?

You will receive a text message, an email, or a letter if the Met Police have found your information in the data held by the fraudulent sites.

Met Police have advised that they do not send any messages containing links or attachments. If you receive a message with either of these that encourages you to open them, they are fraudulent and you should not engage with it.

If you haven’t received any communication from the Met Police and believe that you’ve been a victim of fraud, you should report this to Action Fraud.

What do you need to do if you receive a message?

If you receive a message, there is no need to report the fraud as a crime. The Met Police has done this on your behalf via the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime (Action Fraud).

To ensure your data is secure he advice is to;

• change your regular password across your accounts, such as for online banking, regular shopping sites and mobile phone providers
• check your accounts for any suspicious activity and if in doubt contact the company involved who can help and advise, or contact Action Fraud.