Six jailed for running £37m copycat website fraud
Thousands of people tricked into buying documents such as UK passports from fake sites.
Six people have been given jail sentences after defrauding the public out of more than £37m in one of the largest UK online crime cases brought to court.
The group set up and operated a number of “copycat websites”, which impersonated official government services to sell passports, driving licences and other key documents for hugely inflated prices. The convictions and sentences followed one of the biggest investigations undertaken by the National Trading Standards eCrime Team.
The convictions and sentences were handed down following two trials – one in July 2017 and another that ended this week. The convictions and sentences relating to the July 2017 trial can only now be reported.
The individuals – who received sentences of varying lengths – are Peter Hall, Claire Hall, Syed Bilal Zaidi, Collette Ferrow, Liam Hincks and Kerry Mill, all of various addresses across the UK.