Outline

Operating as Gresham Ltd and Gresham Finance (London) Ltd (see note 1) the company offered commercial loans of up to £250 million. It promoted its services by advertising in newspapers, magazines and on the internet. Applicants for loans were charged between five and fifty thousand pounds for a due diligence check.  Most of the applications came from overseas for commercial projects such as developing resorts and building hotels (in Austria, Turkey and other countries).

Once an applicant had paid the due diligence fee there was a next-stage payment (a security deposit) set at between 1% and 5% of the loan amount. Various other company names were also used to offer a similar service.

The same suspects were also involved in a retail property renting business operating as Gresham Ltd, Park Regent Ltd and Castlereagh London Ltd (see note 2). The suspects used a complex number of company names in their business dealings, including the following: 45 Oxford St Ltd, Renaissance Trust, Cutting and Company (Investments) Limited, Paul Street Media Limited and the Alliance Trust (see note 3).

Searches and arrests

Search warrants were executed at eighteen addresses in London, Surrey, Cheshire and Derbyshire in a mixture of commercial and residential properties. The searches involved 70 personnel from the SFO and 40 officers provided by the City of London Police, the Derbyshire Constabulary and the Cheshire Police.

Five men and one woman have been arrested and three will appear in court later today at City of London Magistrates Court.

The SFO are continuing enquiries into this case.

SFO Appeal

The SFO would like to hear from anyone who believes that they might have information useful to the investigation. The number to call is 0207 239 7079

Notes for editors:

1.     Gresham Finance (London) Ltd is not to be confused with Gresham Finance Ltd, which is an unconnected company and not under investigation.

2.     Castlereagh London Ltd is not to be confused with Castlereagh Ltd of Dublin, which is an unconnected company and not under investigation.

3.      Alliance Trust is not to be confused with the Alliance Trust PLC, the FTSE 100 investment trust, which is an unconnected company and not under investigation.

Serious Fraud Office, Elm House, 10-16 Elm Street, London, WC1X 0BJ

Press Office tel: 020 7239 7045/7000/7004/7132 or mobile: 0796 655 8903 or 0777 616 0985

Main switchboard tel: 020 7239 7272

press.office@sfo.gsi.gov.uk – or via – www.sfo.gov.uk

One of the males entered the bank and asked the cashier to exchange a large quantity of notes for smaller denominations. Whilst the cashier counted the notes, the male then distracted/confused the cashier by asking for directions and foreign currency.

During this time the male was able to steal a quantity of the cash from the cashier without her realising and all three males made off.

Fortunately the staff at the bank realised and contacted the Police immediately where descriptions were passed to surrounding forces. A short time later the three males were traced and detained within Grampian Area for attempting another distraction theft.

The three males will be appearing at court from custody in connection with these matters.

There has been several previous distraction thefts in an around Northern Constabulary force area. This matter is again highlighted to make the public aware and for them to be extra vigilant when being asked to exchange large quantities of money or goods.

• Plastic card fraud losses up 14% to £301.7m in first six months of 2008
• Fraud abroad accounts for 40% of total card fraud losses
• Online banking fraud losses up by 185% to £21.4m
• Cheque fraud losses up by 35% to £20.4m

Figures released by APACS, the UK payments association, show that total card fraud losses increased by 14 per cent in the six months to June 2008 compared with the first half of 2007.  Total card fraud losses for this period now stand at £301.7m, of which more than 40 per cent is the result of fraud abroad – which typically involves criminals using stolen UK card details at cash machines and retailers in countries that have yet to upgrade to chip and PIN.

Chip and PIN has made it more difficult for fraudsters to commit card fraud in the UK, with losses at UK retailers down by 35 per cent since 2005 (£73.2m during January to June 2005 compared with £47.4m during January to June 2008).

The latest figures also reveal that fraud on lost and stolen cards (£27.3m) has fallen by 38 per cent in the past three years – and is now at its lowest level for ten years.

However, criminals continue to target UK-issued cards, copying the magnetic stripe data and creating counterfeit magnetic stripe cards that can potentially be used fraudulently in countries that haven’t yet upgraded to chip and PIN.

This has caused a 190 per cent increase in losses abroad over the last three years, which now total £121.2m. This type of fraud will become more difficult to commit when the European banking industry meets its target to complete its chip card rollout by 2010.

Losses from phone, internet and mail order shopping fraud have continued to increase year-on-year – albeit at a decreasing rate – and now stand at £161.9m, 54 per cent of all card fraud losses.

However these losses need to be seen in the context of increasing numbers of online retailers and ever-growing numbers of online transactions  from 2001 to 2007 this type of fraud went up by 204 per cent whilst, over the same time period, the value of online shopping card transactions alone increased by 415 per cent*.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS says:

“Criminals continue to target those areas where we do not currently have the security benefits of chip and PIN, causing increases in fraud abroad and phone, internet and mail order shopping fraud. Fraud abroad will be made more difficult for criminals to commit as more countries rollout chip and PIN.

“To help tackle online fraud, we continue to urge shoppers to: protect their computer with up-to-date anti-virus software; only use secure websites; and register with MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa when prompted – as these systems make cards more secure when shopping online.

APACS is launching a new campaign later this month ” Be Card Smart Online ” which is aimed at providing further guidance and advice to help consumers stay safe online.”

Online banking fraud losses totalled £21.4m during the six months to June 2008 – a 185 per cent rise on the 2007 figure. Although this increase seems marked, it is in keeping with a gradual increase seen from the second half of last year, when online banking fraud losses increased to £15.1m (during July to December 2007). The increase is largely due to criminals targeting online banking customers through phishing and spyware scams – because the banks’ own systems have proved difficult to attack.

The number of recorded phishing attacks continues to increase, with more than 20,000 fraudulent phishing websites set up in the first half of 2008 – an increase of more than 180 per cent from the same period last year.

Online banking fraud losses, phishing incidents and money mule adverts

Any fraud losses through the faster payments channel would form part of these online banking fraud figures. However, the new service only launched with a gradual rollout, which commenced on 27 May.

Help and advice about preventing all types of online banking fraud is available at www.banksafeonline.org.uk.

Cheque fraud losses during January to June 2008 rose 35 per cent, from £15.1m to £20.4m. However, these losses still remain relatively low compared with other fraud types.

* CNP fraud losses were £95.7m in 2001; £290.5m in 2007. Value of online shopping card transactions: £6.6bn in 2001; £34bn in 2007.

ENDS

For further information contact the APACS Press Office on 020 7711 6340 / 020 7711 6251 / 020 7711 6316 or press@apacs.org.uk

Notes to editors:

1 APACS is the trade body that gives banks, building societies and card issuers a forum where they can work together on non-competitive issues. We help manage the way that businesses and individuals in the UK move their money around – this covers cash, credit and debit cards, cheques and automated payments such as Direct Debits, salary payments and the new Faster Payments Service launched on 27th May for online/phone banking transactions and standing orders. We lead the fight against banking fraud and twice a year we publish figures on payment industry fraud losses. Further information and advice for consumers and retailers regarding how to avoid being a victim of all types of card fraud is available at www.cardwatch.org.uk.

2 Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode are secure online payment systems that enable cardholders to authenticate themselves when shopping online at participating merchants through the use of a password. More information is available at www.shopsafeonline.org.uk

3 Phishing is the name given to the practice used by fraudsters who send emails at random that seem to come from a genuine online bank or business, in an attempt to trick customers of those companies into disclosing personal security information – typically at a bogus website operated by the fraudsters.

These emails usually claim that it is necessary to “update” or “verify” your customer account information and they urge people to click on a link from the email which takes them to the bogus website. Any information entered on the bogus website will be captured by the criminals for their own fraudulent purposes.

You can prevent yourself from becoming a victim of phishing by being wary of all unsolicited emails, even if they appear to originate from a trusted source. Although your bank may contact you by email, it will never ask you to reconfirm your login or security password information by clicking on a link in an email and visiting a website. For more information, visit www.banksafeonline.org.uk

4 Phishing incidents relate to the number of recorded phishing attacks on UK banks and building societies: each phishing incident typically involves fraudsters setting up a website that is a fake version of a genuine bank website, and then sending out thousands or even millions of spam emails trying to convince people to click on a link that will send them to that fake site. The objective is to fool people into then entering their online banking security information – such as user names, PINs and passwords – onto the fake site.

5 A money mule, or money transfer agent as it is sometimes called, is someone recruited by fraudsters needing to transfer money from one country to another.

As most fraudsters are located overseas and it is not possible to make cross-border transfers from most online bank accounts in the UK, a money mule is required to launder the money. After being recruited by the fraudsters, money mules receive funds into their accounts and they then withdraw the money and send it overseas using a wire transfer service, minus a certain commission payment.

Money mule recruitment adverts are calculated according to each time a new fake “job” advert is detected.

Such scams may appear as spam emails, spoof websites, adverts on real job recruitment websites or even in national newspapers. For more details, visit www.banksafeonline.org.uk

6 Advice to help avoid being a victim of fraud:

• Don’t let your cards or your card details out of your sight when making a transaction.
• Destroy, preferably shred, any documents or receipts that contain personal financial information when you dispose of them.
• Do not keep your passwords, login details and PINs written down.
• Do not disclose PINs, login details or passwords in response to unsolicited emails claiming to be from your bank or the police.
• When entering your PIN in a shop or a cash machine use your free hand to shield the number from prying eyes or hidden cameras.
• Only divulge your card details in a telephone transaction when you have instigated the call and are familiar with the company.
• Make sure your computer has up-to-date anti-virus software and a firewall installed.
• Register your cards with Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode.
• Access internet banking or shopping sites by typing the address into your browser. Never go to a website from a link in an email and then enter personal details.
• Shop at secure websites by ensuring that the security icon (locked padlock or unbroken key symbol) is showing in your browser window.
• Always log out after shopping and save the confirmation email as a record of your purchase.

7 The National Fraud Strategic Authority, an agency of the Attorney General’s Office that will work with private, public and third sector organisations to initiate, co-ordinate and communicate counter-fraud activity across the UK economy, was officially established on 1st October 2008.

Companies House is seeing an increase in the number of complaints and queries regarding apparent job offers in the UK. These include offers with Oil companies and the Banking, Hotel and College sectors.

Adverts, presently purporting to be from oil or petroleum companies, for a variety of well-paid jobs in the UK are being placed in reputable newspapers or websites. These adverts also usually offer facilities to obtain UK visas through their contacts.

Payment for these visas is usually requested through a money service bureau. The payment can be collected anywhere in the world.

These jobs do not exist and the only legitimate way to obtain a UK visa is through the local UK embassy or commission – full details can be found at www.ukvisas.gov.uk

You should always treat any such job offers with extreme caution, especially if it seems too good to be true. Make your own enquiries without using the contact details given by the company as these are also false.

URGENT FRAUD WARNING – Authentication Codes for WebFiling

There have been instances recently where Companies House customers have been contacted by someone claiming to be from Companies House, asking for verification of their WebFiling Authentication Codes.

Please be aware that Companies House personnel will never contact you by telephone to try to ascertain your WebFiling Authentication Codes.

Should anyone contact you claiming to be from Companies House please try to obtain a return telephone number and contact us immediately.

ESCROW FRAUD WARNING

We are aware that there are a number of websites offering escrow services that claim to be "licensed and bond at Companies House". These sites are fraudulent in that Companies House does not licence or bond any company.

These sites usually show the company register number of a genuine company but have no connection with the company itself.

These fraudulent sites work by a person searching an internet auction site and agreeing to buy an item, usually jewellery, and also suggesting that instead of using one of the authorised payment systems, the seller sends the item to an escrow service recommended by the would-be purchaser. The goods are sent and no further contact is made because the "purchaser" closes down their email account.

If you believe that you have become a victim of an offence involving any such site, you should report this to your local Police. If you do contact Companies House, please be aware that by so doing, the matter will not necessarily be investigated, although we appreciate the information being brought to our notice.

Companies House is working with the Metropolitan Police (Operation Sterling) to investigate and close down the sites where appropriate.