Phone company fraudsters jailed for combined 11 years after Hampshire resident alerts the police

Four people who pled guilty to defrauding Vodafone, EE, O2 and the Carphone Warehouse out of £429,304 have been jailed for a combined total of 11 years at Portsmouth Crown Court.

The offences came to light when a Hampshire resident told the police that between Friday 14 February 2020 and Wednesday 19 February 2020, four mobile phone accounts had been opened up in his name without his permission or knowledge. EE contracts had been taken out in the Fareham and Waterlooville Carphone Warehouse stores and phones where also taken out in O2 and Vodafone stores.

Hampshire police then contacted EE who discovered the residents details had been used for a series of frauds. Operation Waterspout was set up as a Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary investigation into the Organised Crime Group who were involved in high value commercial fraud. The fraudsters used stolen personal details of existing customers from all over England and Wales to take out new phone contracts and obtain expensive mobile phones and similar items such as Apple Watches and iPads. The sentences were as follows:

• Oluwadamilola Bolaji, 32, of Black Eagle Drive in Gravesend, Kent, admitted his part in the fraud conspiracy to the value of £145,000. He has been jailed for six years and three months.
• Taofeeq Balogun, 30, of no fixed address in Basingstoke admitted his part in the fraud conspiracy to the value of £25,000. He has been jailed for three years.
• Taiwo Agusto, 43, of Osbourne Road in Dartford, Kent admitted his part in the fraud conspiracy to the value of £3,000. He has been jailed for one year and nine months.
• Carriba Johnson, 31, of Nelson Square in Southwark, London also admitted her part in the fraud conspiracy to the value of £2,500. She has been given a suspended sentence of 24 months imprisonment.

The investigation including a search of the group's homes where many forged documents were seized including fake passports, bankcards, bank statements, utility bills and stolen driving licences. Many of the items were used in the fraud to obtain mobile phones linking together by cell site data, sharing SIMS going into handsets, and also by bank transactions between themselves.176 phone company customers had their details used for 602 fraud transactions, but did not experience any financial loss.

DC Owain Davies from the Hampshire Police Economic Crime Team said “This investigation involved extensive analysis of a huge amount of financial documentation in order to gather the evidence needed to put these offenders before the court. I hope that these results send a clear message to those who commit fraud that their actions won’t go unnoticed and that this type of behaviour will be investigated fully.”

If you have been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, the police advise that you can report it to Action Fraud, anytime day or night, using their online reporting tool. You can also report to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 Monday to Friday (8am - 8pm).