NFIB helps police disrupt international email scam

A quick-fire NFIB search led the City of London Police to Manchester and the doorstep of a man suspected of being part of an international advanced fee fraud.

The operation followed reports by US citizens that they were targeted by emails claiming they had a windfall inheritance from distant relatives.

One such victim, an Illinois farmer, has detailed how he and his family had paid up to $150,000 in what they thought were administrative fees to release the inheritance, only to receive nothing in return.  

In a matter of days shared intelligence between US authorities and the National Lead Force for fraud was fed into the NFIB, leading to the Know Fraud system quickly linking a suspect to a residential address in the North West.

On the early morning operation (Dec 23) detectives, accompanied by officers from GMP, forced their way into the suspect’s house. The man, 43, was questioned in Manchester and later released on bail.

The investigation into the alleged advanced fee fraud highlights how the NFIB is working with UK police forces to combat a crime that is costing the UK hundreds of millions of pounds each year.

The Head of Economic Crime at the City of London Police, Det Supt Steve Head, said:

“This operation is another example of how the NFIB is helping police forces detect complex frauds and disrupt organised crime gangs.”

“By combining close partnerships with national and international law enforcement and the groundbreaking work of the NFIB we are moving fraud investigations on at a quicker pace then ever before, giving us the best possible opportunity to combat fraud in 2011.