BBC One – Scam Interceptors

But in the background – on Ahmad’s computer in Lahore – fraud is happening. He’s buying as many expensive items as he can using your account and having them all delivered to your home address. He quickly finds the latest smartphones, tablets and accessories, whatever your mobile provider has in stock to deliver quickly and adds them to your basket, totalling thousands of pounds.

Before he does so, he’s redirecting all of your communications from your mobile phone provider to new email addresses and phone numbers he’s set up. This is so you won’t be alerted prematurely that he’s buying phones and tablets in your name.

Now the scam gets really clever. Having altered all of your contact info, Ahmad is able to receive the delivery tracking information for the new devices he’s purchased. He watches them daily on their way to your home, and on the date they’re being delivered, once he knows they’re in your possession he gives you a call.

“Hi sir. This is Ahmad calling from O2.

Unfortunately I believe there has been a mistake at our end and some devices have been delivered to you.

Would you be able to send them back to our warehouse if I send you a postage label?”

Follow Ahmad’s instructions to send the devices back to the “warehouse” and soon after he’ll be selling the phones and tablets that you paid for in one of his shops in Lahore.

The supposed warehouse is in fact one of many “mule addresses” he uses in the UK. They’re collaborators in this criminal conspiracy who are getting a percentage of the profits, in return for the use of their property.

The victims of this scam now face the nightmare of proving to their mobile phone provider that they didn’t consent to the purchase of the devices. The fact is that they no longer have the devices in their possession, so how can their mobile phone provider be sure it isn’t the customer who has sold them on and claimed fraud to be able to get a refund?

It’s an extremely difficult situation to explain and victims may well end up waiting weeks or months for the return of their money, should they get it at all.

The Scammers

Fortunately, using our ethically hacked access to their scam call centre which we obtained as part of Scam Interceptors, we were able to learn quite a lot about Ahmad Sarfraz and his Lahore-based crew.

Our breakthrough on their whereabouts came from a particularly unusual occurrence. As we sat and watched them running their scams on their computer screens, one afternoon during a long shift, Ali got hungry. Using his work computer he decided to order takeaway for the office, from a local burger joint.