Phisher receives six year jail sentence
June 29, 2005
A UK-based American citizen, Douglas Havard, has received a six-year jail sentence for stealing up to £6.5m through identity fraud. He was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court.
Havard, who comes from Dallas, Texas, created fake credit cards with stolen bank details as part of a global syndicate. Personal details from online accounts were stolen by a practice known as phishing.
Havard admitted conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder money. His co-accused Lee Elwood was jailed for four years for the same offences.
The arrest followed an investigation involving the US Secret Service and the FBI. The case was part of an investigation by the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) into Eastern European crime syndicates which target UK banks and their customers.
Havard was supplied with stolen bank details by Russian computer hackers. The details were then encoded onto the magnetic strips of counterfeit cards which were used at cashpoints in Britain and the US and to buy and sell items online.
A search of Havard’s flats in Leeds and Manchester revealed false passports and driving licenses, blank cashcards and the equipment used to make the counterfeits.
Detective Superintendent Mick Deats, Deputy Head of the NHTCU, said: “Internet fraud is on the increase and we work with our colleagues in law enforcement across the globe to stamp down on those criminals using other people’s identities to steal.”