CASH MULES He told me, Don’t try any funny business, I’ve got your address’
What parents can do
questions and said his account was under investigation. Eventually the boy, who is from London, had to confess to his parents.
He recalled: “I was panicking and scared. In the end I told my mum everything because I didn’t know what I could do about it.
“It was really hard for my family. My dad had to take time off work for two weeks.
“They wanted to pay the man but they didn’t have the money.”
Investigators from We Fight Fraud, a consultancy firm, set a trap to catch ONLINE fraud is now the most common crime in the country.
Almost one in ten of us has fallen victim to a cyber offence.
More than five and a half million are thought to take place annually – almost half of all crime.
Only a small number are reported to cops because victims either feel embarrassed or believe offenders cannot be caught. The figures came out the crook but he neverver showed up after the he schoolboy’s accountt was frozen.
Another teenager, from Liverpool, said her friends had been recruited via social l media sites such as Snapchat and Instagram. am.
She said: “A lot of my mates are on to it. Some kids aren’t aware they’re being scammed and just say yes because they think they’re going to get money. But some in January in the annual Crime Survey for England and Wales, which covers unreported crimes as well as those reported to police.
They revealed that the number of all offences in the 12 months to September last year topped 11.8 million.
Of these, 3.6 million were online fraud and a further 2 million were related to computer misuse. The next know exactly what it’s all aboutab and they know it’sit probably stolen money.m They just don’t ask questions because they are gettingg rewards.” Instagram pages lurelu them with pictures of cash wads and invitationsinvi like “let’s make some money”. According to Cifas, the fraud prevention service, there were 4,222 similar cases involving under-21s in most common offence was theft, with 3.5 million cases.
A survey for the London Institute of Banking and Finance suggests four in ten teenagers have fallen victim to cyber criminals as they carelessly reveal personal details on social media.
They say more than 41 per cent of teenagers aged 18 and under have been targeted by fraudsters for their PIN or bank details. the first six months of this year, compared with 2,143 cases a year ago.
The trend has grown so much that a South East London school head sent a letter to all parents just weeks ago.
Predatory
It says: “Young people’s bank accounts are being used for fraud and money laundering.
“The crime involves young people being offered money as a reward if they agree to provide bank details.
“Their bank cards are then used to either buy items or to withdraw money that has been placed in the account by a third party. The police are asking all parents and carers to remind their child to NEVER provide their bank details, bank card PIN or any other personal information to anyone, no matter how tempting the “reward”.
We Fight Fraud’s Tony Sales is a former conman who has gone straight and is now fighting crime for finance firms in the City of London.
He said: “This is a predatory scam preying on vulnerable children.
“They are not aware they are being made mules to allow money laundering to thrive.
“And they are not aware the stolen money being withdrawn is being used for serious crime.
“It is happening in cities all over the county. If the middle men can’t get their cash they will try to extort it from parents.
“These people will stop at nothing to get their money.” POLICE are asking all parents and carers to remind their child NEVER to provide their bank details, bank card PIN or any other number or personal information to anyone, no matter how tempting the “reward”.