Criminals are running ‘scam schools’ on the internet, teaching budding swindlers how to steal bank details and use them to splurge on major retailers’ goods.
Conmen sell detailed step-by-step guides — one named the ‘Fraud Bible’ — and individual online tutorials to help new scammers cash in on the multimillion-pound black market trade, an undercover Mail investigation has found.
Students learn how to send spam text messages, purporting to be from companies such as the Royal Mail and PayPal, which link to fake bank websites.
The aim is to trick targets into handing over their account and card information and other personal details.
Swag brag: Swindlers use images of wads of cash like these to advertise their lessons
They are taught to use the plundered financial details to buy goods online from retailers including John Lewis, Harvey Nichols, PrettyLittleThing and Selfridges.
These goods are usually then sold on via eBay or other internet marketplaces — meaning many consumers buying from these sites will unwittingly be purchasing goods bought with stolen funds.
Our investigation also revealed:
- Scam schools sell ‘how to’ guides for Universal Credit fraud, fuelling a benefits fraud epidemic costing taxpayers billions of pounds a year.
- The fraudsters openly boast about their crimes on social media, showing off about making £5,000 a day and posting videos of themselves with luxury goods bought using the stolen money.
- They also teach customers how to use stolen bank…