The police are closing in on a major crime ring that is defrauding suppliers by impersonating top executives from UK supermarkets and wholesalers.
An intelligence unit based out of Scotland Yard has been working to identify those involved for four months and believes they are responsible for about 60 cases of fraud since summer 2011 with a combined value of at least £2m.
Wholesalers and retailers criticised the police last year in The Grocer for showing a lack of interest in the rising tide of industry identity frauds.
The officer said the police were now taking identity fraud very seriously. “There are victims here and we will do everything we can to catch the criminals and bring them to justice,” he said.
The matter came to the attention of the Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe who instructed a Commander to appoint a Senior Investigating Officer.
A team was formed, tasked with taking a proactive approach to identify and arrest suspects.
The criminals work by approaching small foreign suppliers, largely by email, pretending to be senior executives, including CEOs and trading directors, and ordering goods that are never paid for.
One Polish distributor fell victim to the gang in the past month, losing a consignment of Snickers worth €97,000. It was approached by a fraudster impersonating a senior executive at Asda.
The distributor admitted to being “blinded by the potential”.
Asda said it was responding to the problem. “We take incidents like this incredibly seriously and we are working closely with the police,” said a spokeswoman.
The FWD has also taken action to prevent identification frauds after a spike in cases last autumn. It has contacted embassies and encouraged victims to contact their local trade associations to warn foreign suppliers to be vigilant.
“The key to prevention is awareness. It’s all about getting suppliers across Europe to understand buying procedures and that UK companies are unlikely to ring out of the blue to make orders,” said an FWD spokesman.
JJ Food Service has been especially active in addressing the problem, publishing warnings on its website, writing to Ambassadors to six European countries, and contacting its local MP Nick DeBois who has promised to raise the matter in Parliament.
Suppliers who have fallen victim to fraud as well as retailers and supermarkets who have information about a fraud are encouraged to contact Action Fraud on www.actionfraud.police.uk.
grocery’s victims of ID fraud
Fraudsters impersonating JJ Food Service ordered goods including olives and oils from four French companies who then sued. One has since dropped its case, but JJ is still facing legal costs of £50,000.
Iceland first became aware of the problem in January 2012, when its German egg supplier delivered a large quantity of eggs to a self-storage warehouse in Enfield after receiving a fake order from a Kevin Grant.
Steve Parfett, chairman of Parfetts Cash & Carry, reported a spate of attempted frauds last autumn. He explained that fraudsters had used his name on at least 12 separate occasions in just three weeks.
Brakes has warned suppliers that people calling themselves Peter Bros and Alan Jenkins, claiming to be Brakes employees, had asked for large orders to be delivered to Access Storage in Edmonton.
No comments yet