COMPUTER CONMAN JAILED
Scamsters offered to fix bogus viruses
ONLINE scammers fleeced vulnerable computer users out of hundreds of thousands of pounds in a cruel scam during which they pretended to be helping them fix bogus viruses or hacking attacks on their computers.
Victims, many of them elderly, were panicked into contacting the fraudsters after messages informing them their computers had been infected either popped up on screen or were played through speakers.
When they followed instructions to contact an 0800 number, they were put through to Indianbased crooks who said they could fix the problem for a fee.
But once the scammers – pretended to be working for a firm who was in partnership with Microsoft – had access to victims’ banking details, they plundered their accounts and sometimes installed software to allow them to steal more.
Now dirty money man Baljinder Singh, who was the Tynesidebased UK face of the fraud and who laundered large amounts of stolen funds, has been jailed for 28 months at Newcastle Crown Court – which police said is the first case in the country of someone being jailed for an offence linked to software fraud.
Recorder Ian Mullarkey told him: “You were an important cog in the scheme in providing vital banking services to the fraudulent operation.
“This was calculated and mean offending which has had a significant effect on those affected and involved defrauding large numbers of individuals of significant amounts of money.”
The court heard Singh was the sole director of Divine Technical Services Ltd, based in South Shields, which was closely linked to an Indian company and purported to provide online technical support for computer users.
Singh’s role was to provide bank accounts into which the Indian fraudsters could transfer their illgotten gains.
James Gelsthorpe, prosecuting, said: “The nature of the fraud being users of computers were made to think their computer was being infected with viruses or had been subject to hacking and were encouraged to pay for the services of the IT company.
“The defendant then transferred that money out from the account, sending the majority of it to India by way of payments but also retaining sums for himself.”
The court was given examples of some of the people who fell victim to the fraud.
One victim was on his computer when a pop-up came on screen saying his machine had a virus and when he called the 0800 number, he was told it would cost £100 to fix it.
Having made the payment via Paypal, his computer started working again.
Months later he was contacted again saying the company was shutting down and he was due a refund.
He was tricked into believing his account had been credited with £2,750 and so agreed to transfer the money to an account in Russia.
Another victim, who is elderly and hard of hearing, said she felt bullied into making a payment.
The fraud was uncovered due to the actions of a computersavvy member of the public, Damian Morrison, who did some research into online fraud when a family member was targeted.
The fraudsters then targeted him and he strung them along, making them believe he had been conned while recording evidence.
He was awarded £250 for his public-spirited work, which involved putting a warning on YouTube about the fraud.
Singh, a married father-of-two, of Marshall Wallis Road, South Shields, admitted transferring criminal property and was jailed for two years and four months.
Singh’s role was to operate UK bank accounts and send money to India, and he did not speak to victims of the con, the court heard.
When he was arrested he told police he had been asked by the Indian firm to establish a base in the UK market to increase customer trust and his role was to process payments.
In the year after November 2016, when he became aware of the YouTube video, he sent £300,000 to India and was paid £38,665, the court heard.
Many of the victims were older computer users, “vulnerable to a degree”, who had a lack of IT knowledge, Mr Gelsthorpe said.
In victim impact statements, they said they were left feeling fearful of being targeted again, intimidated, worried and stressed.
Gavin Doig, defending, said: “This defendant has been left holding the baby for others who have benefited hugely.” Singh was now facing demands for corporation tax for his firm Divine Technical Services, Mr Doig said, while the money had been sent out of the country.
The court heard the married dad-of-two is remorseful and feels shame for his actions and was not involved in the scam from the outset.
After the case, Abrahim Bakhtiar, of Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit, said: “We’d like to reassure all users of our products that Microsoft will never cold-call you out of the blue.
“If you receive an unsolicited tech support call or pop-up from anyone claiming to be from Microsoft or representing Microsoft then it is a scam.”
Detective Constable Andrew Smith, of the North East Special Operations Unit’s Cyber Crime team, said he was “delighted” to secure a conviction as part of an investigation dubbed Operation Thistle.
He added they were very complex investigations.
You were an important cog in the scheme in providing vital banking services to the fraudulent operation