· Arrests follow raids in UK, US, Canada and Nigeria
· Huge haul of fake cheques and money orders seized
British police yesterday hailed the arrest of an international gang of fraudsters as a landmark victory against internet crime, following a sting across four countries. More than £8.5m worth of fake cheques and other fraudulent documents were seized in a series of overnight raids across the UK in a joint operation overseen by Britain's Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca).
The raids, which also took place in the US, Canada and Nigeria, are said to have scooped more than £1bn in fraudulent cheques and money orders. Investigators said that the fraudsters, who mainly used the internet to target vulnerable people for small amounts of money, had racked up vast sums for their efforts.
"This is a low-value, high-volume crime," said Paul Evans, the executive director of Soca, yesterday. "Relatively small amounts of money quickly add up to big profits for the fraudsters. Organised criminals respect no borders and international cooperation is vital when tackling this type of fraud." Officials confirmed that a number of people had been in arrested in Britain, but refused to give further details.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith welcomed the arrests. Mass marketing fraud - the use of mass communication tools to reach many potential victims cheaply and quickly - is estimated to cost Britain more than £3.5bn a year. "This type of fraud is a despicable crime that is costing UK victims huge sums of money every year," Ms Smith said. "It will not be tolerated."
Complaints about faked cheques have risen by 60% in the US over the past year, and officials around the world have expressed deep concerns over the rising tide of internet crime.
The worldwide nature of the internet has made it far easier for criminals to contact potential victims, and a string of local and national enforcement agencies were involved in the swoops. Different criminal gangs are also believed to share information on potential victims or gullible individuals, creating "sucker lists" which they circulate among themselves.
Two victims in Canada are alleged to have lost almost $300,000 (£147,285), although the losses are more generally valued at several hundred pounds. Tracking down the fraudsters has become a favourite online pastime for some vigilantes, who engage in long conversations with the criminals - often located in west Africa or the Netherlands - to try to find out more about them.
The gangs, believed to originate in Nigeria, are thought to have run a number of different scams, often focusing on "advance fee fraud", also known as the Nigerian 419 scam. This involves large prizes or cash sums being offered to victims, who are asked to pay a small sum for the transaction. The "prize" never appears or is in the form of a fake cheque.
Other scams start with phishing emails, often claiming to be from the relative of a rich African official desperate to move a large sum of money to the west. The criminals ask for details of the victim's bank account, which they then drain. Another scam involves buying items from auction websites but overpaying with a fake cheque. The criminals demand that the seller quickly returns the difference; the original payment then bounces.
News of the police operation came as figures showed a sharp rise in credit card fraud. Total losses increased by 26% in the first half of 2007, rising to £263m from £209m a year earlier. Much of the rise was attributed to British credit cards being used fraudulently overseas, which accounted for almost £110m, according to the payment industry body Apacs.
Mike Haley, of the Office of Fair Trading, said that consumers should be constantly aware of fraudsters out to separate unwitting victims from their money. "Scammers are always coming up with new ways to make money, " he said. "It's important to be very wary about cheques you receive from people you don't know - they could leave you much worse off in the end."
