Re-bailed after court appearance following the scam last September

A 32-year-old man from Chiswick who was arrested by police investigating a million pound fraud, has been re-bailed after a court appearance earlier this week.

He faces charges relating to the duping of a company believed to be in Felixstowe, last 16 September , who were conned into handing over more than a million pounds by a bogus caller who told staff there was a virus on the firm’s internet banking facility.

The company transferred money after he advised that money in the company accounts should be transferred into separate holding accounts whilst the bank rectified the issue.

During the fraud, the bogus caller disguised his own telephone number to show the number of the bank's fraud team , which was on their website.

The suspect from Chiswick, was rebailed to appear on 25 February 2016.

The caller managed to gain the staff member’s trust and instructed them to download remote access software on the firm’s computer. This enabled the suspect to access the internet banking and transfer money from the company’s account.

On Monday 28 September, Suffolk Police officers investigating the fraud arrested the 32-year-old man from Chiswick in connection with the incident. He was taken into custody in London and interviewed by detectives.

Officers are renewing a warning for callers to be alert and are reminding individuals and businesses that neither banks or police will not ask you to transfer or handover sums of money and you should never give out details of bank accounts, PINs or personal information. If you receive contact from an unknown caller stop and think for a moment.

Be suspicious particularly if they are telling you something is wrong or that you need to send or handover money. If you suspect you may be the victim of a bogus call hang up and leave the phone down for at least ten minutes or use another phone before contacting anyone else.

Don’t be afraid to hang up on unknown callers. Genuine callers will understand if you want to call them back later, after checking existing paperwork to confirm numbers, to check their identity.

Anyone who may has any concerns regarding this type of incident or who has been a victim are asked to report this to police or Action Fraud - the National Fraud Reporting centre on 0300 123 2040.

November 27, 2015