South Yorkshire Police, based in the UK have seized a bogus casino account used fraudulently to launder money via a social media account.The National Crime Agency informed South Yorkshire police back in October 2021 after seeing an online casino account being misused.
Social Media Scam
Officers involved with the Financial Crime Investigation Unit (FCIU) carried out an investigation on the online account and found an innocent member of the public had been duped by a money-laundering outfit and willingly gave personal details through a scam social media account.The details given were then used fraudulently by the scammers to set up various online gambling accounts used specifically for money laundering purposes.Further investigations with the bank found the person who owned the account could not be identified with the account and later found the bank account was linked to an online gambling account.
£70,000 in Illegal Funds
The account was found to be holding £70,000 in funds, and once the investigating officers uncovered the scam the account was seized, and it was decided half the funds would go to Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in South Yorkshire to help fund local community projects.Temporary Detective Sergeant Paul Douglas, from the FCIU said, “Over the last six months, our FCIU officers have deprived criminal money laundering gangs of over half a million pounds held in fraudulent accounts. Half the money will now be used by the PCC to support a range of good causes in our communities across South Yorkshire.”South Yorkshire PCC Dr. Alan Billings added, “The stress caused by such deception can be overwhelming for individuals who fall victim to these scams, and I thank the Police’s FCIU for their hard work in achieving this result. I am pleased that many local community projects across South Yorkshire will benefit from the conclusion of this incident.”