Copycat government website fraudsters 'jailed'

SnowTiger
SnowTiger Posts: 4,458 Forumite
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in Praise, vent & warnings
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43309881:
A group of fraudsters who conned UK consumers out of £37m by selling passports and driving licences through copycat websites have been sentenced to more than 35 years in jail.

The six people, led by Peter Hall and including his wife Claire, operated websites that impersonated official government services.

They then sold key documents to people for inflated prices.

The illegal profits were used to fund luxury holidays and cars.

Comments

  • imho
    imho Posts: 2,515 Forumite
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    Plus they paid Google extra money to be the top web address on searching for Government web pages. So Google is at fault as well.
    His wife only got 4 years in prison.
    Hope the courts do a process of crime act.
  • worried_jim
    worried_jim Posts: 11,631 Forumite
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    Crikey! You'd not want ride her into battle! She will survive prison easy.
  • ThumbRemote
    ThumbRemote Posts: 4,622 Forumite
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    I seem to remember a lot of users on here claiming there was nothing wrong with these websites, and it was all the customers fault for using them.
  • shaun_from_Africa
    shaun_from_Africa Posts: 12,858 Forumite
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    ThumbRemote wrote: »
    I seem to remember a lot of users on here claiming there was nothing wrong with these websites, and it was all the customers fault for using them.

    Some users (myself included) stated that there was noting wrong with some of the websites that were providing passport and driving licence form completion services.
    Not all of these websites were made up to look like official government portals and even though some of them clearly stated that they were providing a paid for service that could be obtained for free elsewhere, people still used them then complained when they didn't read past the first page and didn't even glance at the T&C's.
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
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    Are we expecting a resurgence from hpuse? ;)
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 34,680 Forumite
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    ThumbRemote wrote: »
    I seem to remember a lot of users on here claiming there was nothing wrong with these websites, and it was all the customers fault for using them.
    I think you'll find that 'a lot of users on here' pointed out that these copycat websites had clearly visible notifications that you could obtain the EHIC/passport/whatever direct from the official website.
    And some even gave the link to the official website.

    Lots of people who had used these websites were refused refunds from their financial institutions.
    Why would that have been?

    Regardless of what has happened in court now, the 'claims' from 'a lot of users' you refer to need to be taken in context at the time of posting.
  • MothballsWallet
    MothballsWallet Posts: 15,852 Forumite
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    DoaM wrote: »
    Are we expecting a resurgence from hpuse? ;)
    Please don't tempt fate!

    They, imo, derailed that thread for a lot longer than necessary instead of just allowing advice to be given by others.
This discussion has been closed.
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