CYBER GANGS' pounds 15M HEIST; ONLINE DETECTIVES REVEAL HUGE FESTIVE CRIME SPREE.Byline: By MARION SCOTT ORGANISED crime gangs in Scotland have stolen more than pounds 15million in a massive online sales heist. The festive fraud blitz using stolen and cloned credit cards is exposed in exclusive web data passed to the Sunday Mail. Cyber detectives compiled the dossier which reveals fraud against online stores was up almost 50 per cent on last year in Scotland. They expose the country's five fraud hotspots for web crime. Experts fear they are gearing up for another onslaught on New Year's Day New Year's Day, among ancient peoples the first day of the year frequently corresponded to the vernal or autumnal equinox, or to the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated among Christians usually on Mar. 25. when they believe online security may be weak. The crimewave was monitored by detection agency Retail Decision. Chief executive Clive Clump said: "Organised gangs behind the biggest online scams never take holidays. They are in the fraud business 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and Christmas and New Year is a particular bonanza time." The gangs used stolen credit card numbers to buy games consoles, high priced jewellery and laptop computers from high street retailers and online giants such as Amazon. Retail Decision, who report to credit card firms and retailers, identified five Scottish online fraud hotspots by watching credit card transactions pile in from single addresses. Glasgow's Ruchill, Easterhouse, Bridgeton and Lochwood areas had the highest number of online fraudsters over the holiday season with Dundee city centre was fifth in the league of shame. Bizarrely, one of the most-bought items was a dancing doll of Igglepiggle from the BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. kids' show In The Night Garden. Other hot items in demand were the Apple iPod nano A flash-based digital music player from Apple, introduced in 2005. Like larger iPod models, the nano has a color screen. Although the nano name suggests ultra-small "nanotechnology," the iPod shuffle is actually smaller. See iPod. and the Nintendo Wii computer games system. They also found that Scots-based fraudsters are most likely to operate between 1am and 2am, while those in the rest of the UK work during the day. Clump said: "This type of fraud is a major growth area in Scotland. "There is a rise of 49 per cent compared to 2006 and we expect that to continue into the New Year. "These activities help fund some of the most sinister crimes - human trafficking, terrorism, drugs and porn. "While fraudsters in other parts of the UK have been ordering gold Artemis watches, Emporio Armani Emporio Armani is a Giorgio Armani brand. Products encompassed by this brand include ready-to-wear clothes, sunglasses, perfume, accessories and watches. This specific branch is targeted toward younger buyers, offering less expensive and more mass produced items. Diamonds perfume and Ruby And Millie cosmetics, Scots fraudsters have gone for Wii games This list is a sortable list of the released or upcoming Wii games, referred to by their English titles. The Wii first launched in the Americas on November 19, 2006 with 23 titles, including Wii Sports. , Prada mobile phones, Samsung and Apple laptops. "The goods are delivered to addresses which are just used as postal drops. "Then the items are sold through internet auction sites, markets or car boot sales. "The people carrying out the initial fraud may not even be in the UK but they have gang members who are able to access local addresses to pick up the goods and sell them on." Fraudsters get credit card details by cloning cards or tricking people into giving their details by phone, by email or online. Richard Dodd of the British Retail Consortium The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards. You can discuss the issue on the talk page. , said: "Retail crime has reached pounds 2billion in the UK and online fraud is becoming an increasing part of that loss. "This type of crime is opening up a whole new avenue to criminals who don't even need to be in the same country as their victims and that gives us a whole new set of problems to overcome. "We already have major difficulties getting the government and police authorities to take retail crime seriously because they regard it as victimless and expect retailers to bear the burden." The SNP SNP Scottish National Party Noun 1. SNP - (genetics) genetic variation in a DNA sequence that occurs when a single nucleotide in a genome is altered; SNPs are usually considered to be point mutations that have been evolutionarily treasury and finance spokesman at Westminster, Stewart Hosie Stewart Hosie, (born January 3, 1963) a Scottish politician, is the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament for Dundee East since the 2005 UK General Election[1][2]. , said: "Once credit card data has been skimmed, criminals can make new cards to commit online fraud. "I'm calling on banks to make it much more difficult to copy data from credit and debit cards and I'd urge shoppers to be ever vigilant when they are using their cards in store and when shopping online. "Most of us shop on the internet but simple security measures such as remembering to log out when completing a transaction and most of all, checking that the transaction is taking place on a secure site can help prevent crime" Glasgow MSP (1) (Management Service Provider or Managed Service Provider) An organization that manages a customer's computer systems and networks which are either located on the customer's premises or at a third-party datacenter. Patricia Ferguson, who has been the target of internet fraud A crime in which the perpetrator develops a scheme using one or more elements of the Internet to deprive a person of property or any interest, estate, or right by a false representation of a matter of fact, whether by providing misleading information or by concealment of , said: "The extent of this fraud is staggering, particularly over such a short space of time. "I'll be raising this in Parliament and want to know if Scottish police forces have the necessary resources and manpower to deal with online crime at this level. "The gangs behind these scams are extremely hard to catch because they move quickly from one scam to another and stay right at the forefront of new technology." Strathclyde Police, who cover four of the five hotspots, said: "Internet fraud is a major concern and something we're determined to tackle. "If anyone, a business or an individual, suspects they have been targeted in any kind on online fraud, they must contact us so we can investigate." WEB'S MOST WANTED Data collected by net detectives pinpoints where busiest web robbers are. SCOTS HOTSPOTS 1. Ruchill, Glasgow 2. Easterhouse, Glasgow 3. Bridgeton, Glasgow 4. Lochwood, Glasgow 5. Dundee AROUND THE WORLD 1. Ghana. 2. UAE. 3. Azerbaijan. 4. New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. . 5. Netherlands. HOW TO PROTECT YOUR CARD Take care of cards, receipts and PIN numbers to prevent crooks copying them. Be aware of post going missing and how to report it. Get mail redirected when you move house. Be careful giving out personal and account details over the phone. Pick log-in details and passwords wisely. Disguise them if you write them down. Close dormant bank accounts. They could be used by crooks. Be careful if accessing personal details in public places such as internet cafes. 'Internet crime pays for terrorism, drugs and porn ..these fraudsters work 24 hours a day, seven days a week' Clive Clump SUNDAY EMAIL m.scott@sundaymail.co.uk CAPTION(S): Cyber sleuth: Clive Clump; HI-TECH CROOKS' FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS GIFTS Apple iPod Nano 4GB: pounds 99.99; Wii games, from pounds 19.99; Samsung laptop, from pounds 1343.00; Nokia 6300 mobile phone, pounds 120. Sony Playstation, pounds 299.99; Apple iPod 8GB, pounds 129.00; Prada phone by LG, pounds 200, Apple Macbook pounds 1299.99; Iggle Piggle Runaway Plush doll, pounds 34.99; Samsung U600 mobile phone, pounds 99.95.; Targeted: MSP Ferguson; GLASGOW Crimewave: Bridgeton; AFRICA Global threat: Ghana; AT HOME Scam: Crooks steal mail |
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