Eastern Region Organised Crime Unit (ERSOU) has reported a ringleader behind a sophisticated banking scam that mimicked legitimate telephone numbers to trick victims out of nearly £300,000 has been jailed.
Olasukanmi Owoeye, 28, operated from a flat in Dartford, Kent, as part of a criminal network that utilised iSpoof, a global online platform designed to disguise phone calls and deceive individuals into surrendering sensitive financial details. The service was dismantled in 2022 following a major Metropolitan Police investigation into ten million bogus calls, leading to follow-up enquiries by the Eastern Region Organised Crime Unit (ERSOU) and City of London Police.
Between June 2021 and December 2023, the conspiracy targeted more than 1,000 potential victims across the country, including in Cambridgeshire, Dorset, London, Birmingham, and Oxfordshire. Fraudsters contacted victims claiming their accounts were compromised, convincing them to transfer funds to third parties or grant direct access to their accounts. The operation employed spoofed calls, automated messages, and text alerts resembling genuine bank communications.
Owoeye recruited female callers to execute the calls, principal among them Alessandra Monaco, 25, from Bromley. Detectives from ERSOU’s Proactive Economic Crime Team discovered Monaco regularly used Owoeye’s Dartford home to carry out the fraud, with turnover on a linked cryptocurrency account exceeding £100,000. Officers subsequently linked a third conspirator, Muhammed Bolade-Matti, 31, from Southwark, London, after finding victim details and incriminating messages on his mobile phone. Total losses linked to Owoeye’s iSpoof account reached £277,000.
Described at Maidstone Crown Court as the lynchpin of the enterprise, Owoeye admitted two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and possession of articles for use in frauds. He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. Monaco admitted conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and possession of articles for use in frauds, receiving a suspended sentence and an order to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. Bolade-Matti pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and received a suspended sentence alongside 100 hours of unpaid work.
Detective Constable Stuart Shields said:
“The criminals involved in this conspiracy caused significant distress to victims, exploiting their trust in banks and other financial organisations to steal money through a highly convincing scam. Owoeye was at the heart of the operation, directing others and enabling fraudulent activity over a prolonged period. This case demonstrates that, even when offenders hide behind advanced technology, they can still be identified and brought before the courts. I do hope his sentence provides reassurance to victims and serve as a warning to anyone considering engaging in this type of criminality.”
Proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act will now follow to recover criminal assets.