Criminals can use software from the iSpoof fraud service to hide their own phone number and pretend to be a legitimate entity, such as a bank or insurance company.

That way, fraudsters can extort people’s data and eventually their money. Fraudsters pay for the service with bitcoins and think they can remain anonymous.

Hundreds of thousands of victims

It is estimated that around 200,000 people have been scammed with the help of iSpoof. Tens of millions of euros have been stolen from people.

Of the 10 million calls made using iSpoof, 40 percent were in the US and 35 percent in the UK. Other calls were made in several other European countries and Australia.

Authorities managed to crack online at iSpoof, which had 59,000 users at its peak. The service has been off the air since December 2020 and more than half a year later, police in London have started an investigation. The Netherlands, the United States and Ukraine are helping in this regard.

‘Pretty intense’

Dutch police eavesdropped on the service for three months. This way, agents can hear what the criminals are saying during intense conversations with potential victims. Two men aged 19 and 22 were arrested in Almere this week in connection with the investigation, police told the newspaper. NOS and NRC. It is not clear what exactly they suspect.

A Dutch detective told NRC that three months of listening was sufficient. The police then want the scam to stop immediately. “It’s quite intense when you hear how much suffering people cause,” the detective said of overhearing the conversation.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re moving forward. We now have insight into such servers, which is a great opportunity for us to put things together,” the detective continued.

The main suspect is Teejai Fletcher, the alleged mastermind of iSpoof. According to police, he will have a lavish lifestyle and was arrested in London earlier this month.

‘false promise’ anonymity

Starting today, the police will distribute advertisements via Telegram, among other things, to warn fraudsters: services like these claim to guarantee anonymity, but this is not always the case.