City police squad foils £25m of fraudulent online scams in just six months

A specialist police unit backed by the City has foiled £25 million of frauds in the past six months, it was announced today.

The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) tackles crooked bank staff, online card fraud and scams, to bolster the security of the banking industry.

Figures released today show that 26 fraudsters were convicted between January and June this year thanks to DCPCU efforts, and seven organised crime groups were targeted.

The unit stopped frauds totalling £25 million in the first six months of this year, bringing the total to £540 million since its inception in 2002.

One of those brought to justice was 26-year-old Barclays cashier Rasad Salam, who helped fraudsters target singer Emeli Sandé .

Salam, who worked at a branch in Whitechapel, acted as the “inside man” by passing on the details of Sandé’s ex-husband with whom she shared a bank account.

The cashier, from Forest Gate, admitted nine charges of fraud, including £4,500 taken from the singer’s account, and was given a 12-month suspended jail sentence at Inner London crown court in July.

Another of the unit’s targets, online fraudster Surendiran Ganesharajah, 30, was jailed for 32 months in January for a £14,000 delivery scam on John Lewis. He used stolen bank card details, bought over the dark web, to order goods from the firm and was caught using £3,000 of stolen Harrods gift cards to buy designer shoes.

Detective Chief Inspector Glyn Whittick, who works in the DCPCU, said its success was due to “close co-operation” between financial institutions, City of London police, the Met and the Home Office.

“Criminal gangs are increasingly sophisticated and taking advantage of new technologies to commit fraud online,” he added. “But with close co-operation between law enforcement and the industry, we can stay one step ahead and ensure there is no place for fraudsters to hide.”

The unit carried out raids across the UK in June as part of a Europe-wide crackdown on online fraud.