A Dewsbury man has been jailed for his part in a sophisticated banking scam where staff in India were targeted to provide account information to fraudsters with the potential to steal hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Leeds Crown Court heard officers from the City of London police traced calls to Barclays Indian based call centre back to an iPhone in the possession of Hassan Khalid after inquiries began when a staff member reported an illegal approach.
Inquiries revealed for over a year Khalid and others unknown had obtained or tried to obtain individual personal banking details to carry out fraudulent transactions.
Tom Storey, prosecuting, said they aimed to obtain credit cards, associated PIN numbers. Although Barclays was the main target, details about other banks were also found at his home.
Khalid was first arrested on March 10 last year and computer equipment seized in his bedroom showed he had softwear installed which could encrypt messages, templates to falsify identification documents and a special voice changing application allowing him to speak as though he was a woman.
Some call centre staff had been offered money to provide customer account details and a Western Union receipt for £100 sent to one bank employee was found in Khalid’s belongings.
In other cases he would ring posing as the customer to check balances, order cards, or make other changes, gaining access to more information needed so the cards could be used after they were directed to safe addresses. Thousands of e-mail addresses were found on one of his computers.
Mr Storey said Barclays identified the loss by the time of his arrest as £11,328 but the potential risk of loss on accounts had applications not been declined or blocked was £797,411. Hassan was initially bailed but arrested again the following month when it was found he had continued to offend.
Roderick Johnson, representing Khalid, said he deeply regretted the shame he had brought on his family who were respectable people.
He had become involved to get out of debt. He was a taxi driver who was impressionable when a man he would drive to Leeds had “flashed cash around.”
The fraud was explained to him and equipment was provided with laptops and phones and he was shown how to make approaches to those at the bank, including disguising his voice.
He intended only to pay off his debts but it was made clear to him that he was too useful to others and when he was bailed he was threatened to continue in the fraud. He estimated trying to obtain only about £50,000 and nowhere near the potential figures quoted.
Mr Johnson added: “He was acting under direction and then pressure towards the end.”
Khalid, 26 of Headfield Road, Dewsbury, admitted conspiracy to defraud and was jailed for 30 months.
Judge Geoffrey Marson QC told him: “It is perfectly obvious this was a highly organised, well planned and sophisticated conspiracy to defraud.
“It was no doubt intended that banks would lose huge sums of money, that customers’ accounts would be breached causing distress to them even if at the end of the day the bank had to foot the bill.
“I am prepared to accept that others were involved and others more sophisticated than you but you did play a leading role. You were actively involved over at least 12 months as you accept in attempting to recruit banking staff in India to give details of customers’ accounts to enable those to be hacked, credit cards to be obtained and used.
“One of the effects was to cause suspicion to fall upon entirely innocent members of staff in India who had been approached but not corrupted.”
