Oldham mobile phone fraud probe - police arrest a man

Earlier this morning (Tuesday), Greater Manchester Police's Economic Crime Unit officers conducted warrants at four addresses in the Oldham area as part of an on-going investigation into mobile phone fraud.

Officers, alongside the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, launched an investigation after calls from members of the public who reported that they believed they had fallen victim to fraud.

It is believed that victims were being called from someone who claimed to be from their mobile network provider who persuaded them to upgrade their phone contract which then lead to the victims to believe that they would be entitled to an upgraded mobile phone.

The victims receive a new phone, but not the latest model as they expected.

When victims called back to explain that they had an unexpected delivery, they were then told to send it on to another ‘returns’ address.

These addresses are believed to be “mule addresses” and their main aim is to keep hold of the devices before passing it on in the criminal network.

It is believed that some of the suspected stolen phones end up out of the country.

A man, aged 37, was arrested on suspicion of fraud and remains in police custody ahead of being questioned.

Detective Inspector Tim Flint, of GMP’s Economic Crime Unit, said: "As always, any reports of fraud are taken extremely seriously and will always thoroughly investigate where there's evidence of criminal activity.

"What we are investigating here is what we believe to be a highly sophisticated fraud and a number of people, not just in Greater Manchester, have potentially been a victim.

"While we have made an arrest and seized suspected stolen mobile phones, we are still in the early stages of our investigation, and I would like to take the opportunity to remind the public to ensure they stay alert to the risk of fraud.

"We are relentless in tackling fraud, but we will continue to work behind the scenes diligently to ensure the people that commit these acts, are brought to justice.

"We do this with your help. If you see something, or suspect something is wrong or too good to be true, tell us, and we can do something about it."

Anyone with any information can contact police via: www.actionfraud.police.uk, LiveChat on the website: www.gmp.police.uk or call 101.

You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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