Police seize £70,000 from a phoney gambling account

South Yorkshire Police have seized £70,000 that had been housed in a fictitious gambling account.

Police in South Yorkshire have seized £70,000 ($95,000) from a bogus gaming account obtained through a social media scam.

The National Crime Agency notified the police in October 2021 that abnormal patterns had been discovered in an online gaming account.

After conducting an inquiry, investigators from the Financial Crime Investigation Unit (FCIU) determined that a member of the public had been duped into submitting personal information to a money-laundering organisation via a social media fraud.

Personal information was utilised without the individual’s knowledge or agreement to open fraudulent online banking and gambling accounts.

After consulting with the bank, it was determined that the account’s owner could not be recognised based on the information given.

Additional inquiry discovered that the bank account was connected to a gambling account with a balance of little more than £70,000.

The funds were confiscated, and half of them would be distributed to South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for use in various local community projects.

“Almost the last six months, our FCIU officers have deprived criminal money laundering groups of over half a million pounds kept in fake accounts,” Temporary Detective Sergeant Paul Douglas of the FCIU said. The PCC will now spend half of this money to help a variety of worthwhile causes across South Yorkshire.”

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire’s PCC, added: “The stress created by such fraud may be tremendous for those who fall victim to these scams, and I applaud the FCIU’s hard work in obtaining this result.” I am glad that the resolution of this issue will assist numerous local community projects around South Yorkshire.”

Despite its success, Burkitt expressed worry about the increasing network’s ability to make progress as COVID-19 has taxed all local governments and public health resources.

Burkitt emphasized the continuous development and participation of local governments in helping the UKGC achieve the most diverse coverage possible for its strategy – “with members ranging from inner-city London boroughs to beach resorts.”

“The Commission’s job will remain as a facilitator and enabler, sharing best practices among the Local Authorities,” Burkitt said.

“Strategy implementation and a public health approach to gaming harm reduction will always be site-specific. While it is too early to determine the group’s exact influence on implementation, the early indicators are extremely optimistic.”