A specialist policing unit funded by banks arrested 122 fraudsters last year amid a huge rise in money launderers using members of the public as so-called “money mules”.
The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) recovered 18,175 credit card numbers and seized £2.6 million of assets in 2020 by targeting organised criminal gangs responsible for the vast amount of fraud in the UK. The total was £1 million more than had been seized the previous year.
Last year the unit’s investigations led to 54 criminals being jailed for fraud, figures handed to The Times reveal.
Police said that the most prevalent scams had accelerated since the pandemic as fraudsters took advantage of more people being at home and online.
Fraudsters tried to scam millions