Wellness for Peace Education on Climate Change: UPDATE: UK: One of the victims, a woman in her late 70s, invested £23,000 in carbon credits. She was then persuaded by another salesman to borrow money to buy £140,000 of shares in gold. She never recovered the money. "I foolishly trusted him," she told BBC News, adding: "My generation is not very streetwise - because we never had to be." Another victim, a 72-year-old man from the Midlands, said he and his wife had been "scammed out of our entire life savings". He said that, in the weeks after realising what had happened, "we hardly slept or ate". "It is still very raw to us both and we both have bad days when it is all we can think about," he added. The Financial Conduct Authority has estimated that as much as £200m is lost to boiler room frauds in Britain every year. The biggest individual loss recorded by police was £6 million. Officers say the fraudsters spend their proceeds on Rolex watches, Armani suits, fast cars and flashy apartments. Some are involved in drug dealing and attend drugs parties. Avoiding detection Each boiler room network is believed to have an accountant, money launderer and lawyer, as well as people who do the "sales". These tend to be university students or travellers who speak English, including some from Scandinavia, who have answered adverts for salespeople. Police search the luxury home of a suspected criminal in Marbella, Spain Police search the luxury home of a suspected criminal in Marbella They use false names and build up a "legend" - a cover story and false history. "They're young people who want to earn good commission and want to drink themselves into the ground," said DI Clancey. Operation Rico is the first time there has been a multi-agency and cross-border investigation against different networks of boiler room fraudsters. Previously there was more of a piecemeal approach. However, despite some successes, criminals had become adept at avoiding detection by frequently moving offices and wiping computers. DI Clancey said the Spanish authorities were fully behind the operation. "The Spanish want to drive it out of Spain - it's tainting them," he said. Detectives acknowledge that boiler room fraudsters will not disappear but they are more likely to operate in future in the more "hostile" environments of Thailand, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. Police have urged anyone who may have been scammed to call the Action Fraud line on 0300 123 2040. Anyone with any information about these crimes can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Share this page

Saturday, March 8, 2014

UPDATE: UK: One of the victims, a woman in her late 70s, invested £23,000 in carbon credits. She was then persuaded by another salesman to borrow money to buy £140,000 of shares in gold. She never recovered the money. "I foolishly trusted him," she told BBC News, adding: "My generation is not very streetwise - because we never had to be." Another victim, a 72-year-old man from the Midlands, said he and his wife had been "scammed out of our entire life savings". He said that, in the weeks after realising what had happened, "we hardly slept or ate". "It is still very raw to us both and we both have bad days when it is all we can think about," he added. The Financial Conduct Authority has estimated that as much as £200m is lost to boiler room frauds in Britain every year. The biggest individual loss recorded by police was £6 million. Officers say the fraudsters spend their proceeds on Rolex watches, Armani suits, fast cars and flashy apartments. Some are involved in drug dealing and attend drugs parties. Avoiding detection Each boiler room network is believed to have an accountant, money launderer and lawyer, as well as people who do the "sales". These tend to be university students or travellers who speak English, including some from Scandinavia, who have answered adverts for salespeople. Police search the luxury home of a suspected criminal in Marbella, Spain Police search the luxury home of a suspected criminal in Marbella They use false names and build up a "legend" - a cover story and false history. "They're young people who want to earn good commission and want to drink themselves into the ground," said DI Clancey. Operation Rico is the first time there has been a multi-agency and cross-border investigation against different networks of boiler room fraudsters. Previously there was more of a piecemeal approach. However, despite some successes, criminals had become adept at avoiding detection by frequently moving offices and wiping computers. DI Clancey said the Spanish authorities were fully behind the operation. "The Spanish want to drive it out of Spain - it's tainting them," he said. Detectives acknowledge that boiler room fraudsters will not disappear but they are more likely to operate in future in the more "hostile" environments of Thailand, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. Police have urged anyone who may have been scammed to call the Action Fraud line on 0300 123 2040. Anyone with any information about these crimes can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Share this page

BBC News - 'Landmark' crackdown on fake shares fraudsters: "The worldwide operation was led by City of London police, Robert Hall reports
Criminal gangs who trick people into investing in worthless shares have been targeted by police in the biggest ever international crackdown on the fraud.

The operation resulted in 110 arrests - mostly in Spain and the UK.

Police targeted the masterminds and facilitators of the "boiler room" fraud - so-called because of the cramped conditions they work from.

There are 850 confirmed victims of the gangs in the UK, but the real figure is likely to be in the "multi-thousands".

Detectives say the aim of the two-year investigation, codenamed Operation Rico, is to "decimate" boiler room fraud in Europe.

They believe it is the biggest ever operation against the crime."

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