Police infiltrate website used to defraud people on an industrial scale

A UK-founded website used to defraud victims on an industrial scale has been infiltrated – leading to scores of arrests around the world, the Metropolitan Police has said.

As many as 70,000 UK victims were tricked by the site’s scams, which obtained 480,000 card numbers and 64,000 PINs globally.

Law enforcement agencies have arrested 37 suspects across the UK and around the world, including at Manchester and Luton airports, as well as in Essex and London.

LabHost, a scammer site set up in 2021 by a criminal network, enabled users to set up phishing websites designed to trick victims into revealing personal information such as email addresses, passwords and bank details.

Phishing is a form of scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information by masquerading as a legitimate person.

Criminal subscribers were able to log on and choose from existing sites or request bespoke pages replicating those of trusted brands including banks, healthcare agencies and postal services.

LabHost even provided templates and an easy to follow tutorial allowing would-be fraudsters with limited IT knowledge to use the service.

At the end of the tutorial, a robotic voice told fraudsters: “Stay safe and good spamming.”

By the beginning of 2024, more than 40,000 fraudulent sites had been created and 2,000 users were registered and paying a monthly subscription fee.

LabHost provided its subscribers with fake profiles for 170 companies to trick victims, including 47 based in the UK.

Those subscribing to the “worldwide membership”, meaning they could target victims internationally, paid between £200 and £300 a month.

Since creation, the site has received just under £1m in payments from criminal users.

Shortly after the platform was seized and disrupted, 800 users received a message telling them that police “know who they are and what they’ve been doing”.

Dame Lynne Owens, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, said: “You are more likely to be a victim of fraud than any other crime.

“In addition to the financial impact, it undermines the public’s confidence in the tools and technology they need to use in daily life.”