ITV News London: Clampdown on ‘boiler room’ investment fraud in the Square Mile, A London-wide clamp down on suspected investment frauds operating out of some of the capital’s most iconic buildings in the heart of the UK’s main financial districts has taken place.
City of London Police, City of London Corporation Trading Standards and Metropolitan Police have visited a number of office premises in the Square Mile, Canary Wharf and Westminster as part of a long-term, coordinated, intelligence-led drive to uncover suspected boiler rooms and inform the virtual and serviced office providers which are unknowingly providing criminals with prestige addresses from where they can work and promote their scams.
Last year (Oct 2013-Sep 2014) more than £1.73 billion was reported to Action Fraud that had been lost to fraudsters by 5252 investors across the UK, lured into handing over anything from a few pounds to several hundreds of thousands of pounds. The City of London Police, which is home to Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, has also used its expertise and access to millions of reports of fraud to calculate that each City-based boiler room is making, on average, almost £1.25 million.
Investment fraud victims are duped with the promise of being able to make high percentage returns on investments when the reality their money is being used to cover the running costs of the boiler rooms and fund a life of excess and luxury for the criminals.,
