Ramzan Abubakarov, 21, of Hendon was sentenced on Wednesday, 8 February at
Croydon Crown Court to three years’ imprisonment for fraud by false
representation, supply of articles for use in fraud, and possession of
articles for use in fraud.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him however, after a two
week trial at the same court, he was found guilty by the jury on 9 December
2022 of 10 of the offences.
*Detective Superintendent Helen Rance, who leads on cybercrime for the Met,
said:* “Taking away the tools and systems that enable criminals to exploit
and target innocent people is a great challenge to us and our partners,
however we are dedicated to bringing these criminals to justice.
“We are reinventing the way that fraud and cybercrime is investigated and
through this, we are able to identify and target criminals and safeguard
further victims.”
Abubakarov operated on an encrypted social media platform using various
monikers to engage in fraud and collaborate with thousands of other
cybercriminals.
He was identified by the Cyber Defence Alliance (CDA) in November 2020 and
so began the Met’s Cyber Crime team’s investigation. The team found him
through proactive policing cryptocurrency track and trace, communications
data analysis and partner work with UK Banks and HMRC.
Abubakarov was arrested in November 2021 and a number of devices including
laptops and phones were seized from his home address. A thorough forensic
analysis of the devices led to the discovery of compromised personal and
financial data of more than 30,000 victims, custom phishing kits of various
UK and international banks and more than one million UK and international
mobile numbers.
It was found that he coordinated fraudulent activities on his Telegram
channel which was one of the largest Telegram channels with a British
target. He was responsible for creating a web service for cybercriminals
called “iChop.it.” which was a platform for other cybercriminals to buy and
sell compromised personal and financial data.
He advertised and posted evidence of engaging in various frauds such as
applying for Bounce Back Loans, submitting fraudulent HMRC tax return
claims and gaining unauthorised access to bank accounts of unsuspecting
members of the public.
By selling these tools to other criminals, Abubakarov was responsible for a
financial loss amounting to more than £1.9million of victims’ money.
*Detective Constable Oyedeji, who led the investigation, said: *“The
success of this investigation is as a result of effective collaborative
working relationships with our partners, especially the CDA. It’s rewarding
for myself and my team knowing that we managed to safeguard thousands of
victims from cybercriminals.”
Croydon Crown Court to three years’ imprisonment for fraud by false
representation, supply of articles for use in fraud, and possession of
articles for use in fraud.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him however, after a two
week trial at the same court, he was found guilty by the jury on 9 December
2022 of 10 of the offences.
*Detective Superintendent Helen Rance, who leads on cybercrime for the Met,
said:* “Taking away the tools and systems that enable criminals to exploit
and target innocent people is a great challenge to us and our partners,
however we are dedicated to bringing these criminals to justice.
“We are reinventing the way that fraud and cybercrime is investigated and
through this, we are able to identify and target criminals and safeguard
further victims.”
Abubakarov operated on an encrypted social media platform using various
monikers to engage in fraud and collaborate with thousands of other
cybercriminals.
He was identified by the Cyber Defence Alliance (CDA) in November 2020 and
so began the Met’s Cyber Crime team’s investigation. The team found him
through proactive policing cryptocurrency track and trace, communications
data analysis and partner work with UK Banks and HMRC.
Abubakarov was arrested in November 2021 and a number of devices including
laptops and phones were seized from his home address. A thorough forensic
analysis of the devices led to the discovery of compromised personal and
financial data of more than 30,000 victims, custom phishing kits of various
UK and international banks and more than one million UK and international
mobile numbers.
It was found that he coordinated fraudulent activities on his Telegram
channel which was one of the largest Telegram channels with a British
target. He was responsible for creating a web service for cybercriminals
called “iChop.it.” which was a platform for other cybercriminals to buy and
sell compromised personal and financial data.
He advertised and posted evidence of engaging in various frauds such as
applying for Bounce Back Loans, submitting fraudulent HMRC tax return
claims and gaining unauthorised access to bank accounts of unsuspecting
members of the public.
By selling these tools to other criminals, Abubakarov was responsible for a
financial loss amounting to more than £1.9million of victims’ money.
*Detective Constable Oyedeji, who led the investigation, said: *“The
success of this investigation is as a result of effective collaborative
working relationships with our partners, especially the CDA. It’s rewarding
for myself and my team knowing that we managed to safeguard thousands of
victims from cybercriminals.”
