Scam website founder convicted in UK's biggest fraud sting

At one point as many as 20 people per minute were being targeted by criminals using technology bought from the ispoof website set up by Tejay Fletcher

Tejay Fletcher, 35, founder of the ispoof 'fraud shop'. PA

The UK's biggest fraud sting has secured the conviction of the founder of an online “fraud shop” that was used to swindle thousands of people out of millions of pounds.

The iSpoof website was set up by Tejay Fletcher, 35, of Newham, East London.

He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday to four offences committed between November 30, 2020 and November 8, 2022.

He previously pleaded not guilty at the same court, but was re-arraigned for the offences.

In November, it was announced that British police were part of a global operation to bring down ispoof.cc, as part of the UK’s biggest fraud sting.

Fletcher, wearing a grey jumper and jogging bottoms, was convicted of making or supplying articles for use in frauds, encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence believing it would be committed, possessing criminal property and transferring criminal property.

He offered to supply iSpoof’s services to others and provided services through the website, the court heard.

Fletcher also possessed and transferred “criminal property, namely Bitcoin”.

He pleaded not guilty to a further three offences which the judge ordered to lie on file.

The phone number spoofing site was created in December 2020 and at its peak had 59,000 users, who were able to pay for the criminal software using Bitcoin, with charges ranging from £150 ($187) to £5,000 per month.

At one point as many as 20 people per minute were being targeted by callers using technology bought from the site.

Criminals, who found out about the site from adverts posted on channels on encrypted messaging app Telegram, used it to buy technology that allowed them to mask their phone number.

This meant they could trick victims into thinking they were being contacted by their bank, for example, and persuade them to pass on personal details that allowed the fraudsters to steal cash.

After Fletcher’s arrest in November, police said he had been living a “lavish” lifestyle as a result of the fraud site, which is said to have made more than £3 million.

Total losses to victims of frauds enabled by iSpoof in the UK exceeded £43 million, with global losses estimated to be at least £100 million, the court heard.

British law enforcement worked with Dutch authorities who tapped the website’s servers in the Netherlands to secretly listen to phone calls, it was revealed in November.

One victim lost £3 million and 4,785 people who reported being targeted to Action Fraud lost an average of £10,000.

There are thought to be many more potential victims.

Of 10 million fraudulent calls made, 40 per cent were in the US, 35 per cent were in the UK and the rest were spread across a number of countries.

In November, the Metropolitan Police said that about 70,000 UK phone numbers called by criminals who used the site were to be alerted.

Judge Dafna Spiro said Fletcher will be sentenced on May 18 and 19.

The amount received in iSpoof subscriptions and then paid to Fletcher and others linked to the site was 112.6 Bitcoin — approximately £3.2 million.

Fletcher played the leading role as the website administrator for the majority of time iSpoof was operating and received by far the largest share of the profits.

The Crown Prosecution Service intends to use confiscation proceedings to prevent him from profiting from his crimes.

“As the leading administrator of the iSpoof website, Tejay Fletcher helped to provide fraudsters with the tools to cheat innocent people on a shocking scale,” Thomas Short, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said.

“Fraud is an insidious crime and the cost to the many victims in this case has not just been financial, it has also caused huge emotional distress and devastation.

“We want to encourage all those who think they’ve been a victim of a fraud to come forward and report it.

“The CPS works closely with police to bring fraudulent offenders like Fletcher to justice and I hope today’s conviction sends a strong message to criminals that they can no longer hide behind online anonymity.”

Detective Superintendent Helen Rance of the Metropolitan Police, said: “I am incredibly proud of my team in the cyber crime unit who ran this investigation resulting in Fletcher pleading guilty.

“He was the ringleader of a slick fraud website which enabled criminals to scam innocent people of millions of pounds.

“We are doing more than ever before to protect Londoners from spoofing and cyber fraud and devised a bespoke plan to reach out to victims who were targeted via iSpoof.”