Online scam schools are being run by criminals that teach budding thieves how to take bank details to spend big on high-end retail goods.
Conmen sell detailed step-by-step guides — one named the ‘Fraud Bible’ — and individual online tutorials to help new scammers cash in on the multimillion-pound black market trade, an undercover Mail investigation has found.
Students are taught how to send out spam messages pretending to come from PayPal or the Royal Mail.
Fraudsters selling online detailed guides, one called the “Fraud Bible”, and tutorials on how to make money in the black market for multimillions of pounds are being sold by fraudsters.
It is designed to get the target to hand over card and account information, as well as other details.
These students are instructed to steal financial data to order goods online from stores like Selfridges (John Lewis), Harvey Nichols (PrettyLittleThing), Harvey Nichols (Harvey Nichols), and John Lewis.
These goods are usually then sold on via eBay or other internet marketplaces — meaning many consumers buying from these sites will unwittingly be purchasing goods bought with stolen funds.
Our research also showed:
- Fraud schools are selling ‘how-to’ guides for Universal Credit fraud. This is fueling an epidemic of benefits fraud that costs the taxpayers billions each year.
- The fraudsters openly boast about their crimes on social media, showing off about making £5,000 a day and posting videos of themselves with luxury goods bought using the stolen money.
- They also teach customers how to use stolen bank details to take out £5,000 loans charged to the victim, and how to move money from victims’ accounts to cryptocurrency accounts, which the crook can then make off with.
Fraudsters use a commodity known as ‘fullz to fuel online credit card fraud. Fullz includes the victim’s full name, credit card number, complete address, phone number, date and birth, bank account number, sort code, and credit card number.
Telegram allows you to trade Fullz, as well as other information such national insurance numbers and driving license numbers, on the messaging platform Telegram. There are thousands of members in these groups, including Legal Fraudsters and Fraud Boys and GB Only Fraudsters.
Swag brags: To advertise their lessons, swindlers make use of images like this to show wads and wads.
These criminal marketplaces are also used by scammers who make additional profit by teaching others to learn the tricks of their illicit trade — for a price.
For £205, paid via Bitcoin, one fraudster who advertised lessons in these groups provided us with the software to create real-looking spam phishing text messages.
They link to fraudulent web pages of banks and payment firms and can be used to fool victims into giving their banking and personal details.
He promised to teach us these messages in a three day crash course. He explained that if he sent a message to you while I was spamming it would feel legit. You will see HSBC and Barclays.
This was his explanation of the method used to create fake PayPal and Royal Mail scam SMS messages that exploded in lockdown.
“Have you ever received spam messages? [The software]You will be able to make it seem real.
A list of over 50 numbers on his mobile phone was sent to him, which he intended to use as a demo during tutorials. He explained that ‘We will spam as much bro. Do not worry. Before a lesson could begin, the reporter closed off communication.
Other scammers-turned-teachers explain how to use these stolen bank details to buy from major retailers without getting caught by fraud checks, in a technique known as ‘clicking’.
Video of fraudsters with designer goods
The fraudster he calls himself “tee.clickz” and “rocket20” has made a TikTok advertisement video that explains: “lessons.fulz.bins.and methods.” According to his TikTok bio, he said: “Never again work a 9-5.”
For £200 he offers a dossier which he called the ‘Fraud Bible’, with techniques to defraud 20 brands, detailing tried and tested tips such as which type of card and delivery option to use, and the maximum cost of purchase that can be made with each retailer without raising the alarm.
This device claims it can be used in major retailers such as Givenchy, John Lewis and End.
It states: “Once shipped repeat on same card to rinse. Or use another card.
You can then sell your items via eBay, or other designer-based marketplace apps. The warning warns against retailers texting or calling buyers to check for fraud.
Fraud Bible includes’refund’ schemes that allow you to claim cashback from large retailers. They include email templates that express faux outrage at the non-delivery of an item ordered and demand that it be rectified immediately.
I lost all my savings due to a horrible delivery text scam
Emmeline Hartley is a text scammer
Actress Emmeline Hartley described her horror at being ‘scammed out of every penny I had’ after falling for a fake Royal Mail text.
The 28-year-old from Birmingham, was duped by the message which claimed she owed a £2.99 ‘postage fee’ for a package to be delivered.
Clicking on the link within the text led her to a site that resembled the Royal Mail website. She then submitted her bank details.
The next day, a man pretending to be from her bank phoned and said they had identified suspicious activity on her account — and convinced her to transfer all her cash to another account to ‘protect’ it.
Emmeline says: ‘I grew up with the internet and consider myself to be pretty tech-savvy.
‘But the reality is that anyone can get caught out if the scammers get them at a vulnerable moment.
‘In my case, the text came through when I was rushing to meet a friend with my phone on two per cent, so I wasn’t thinking clearly.
‘The text said that I had to pay an additional postage fee because someone had sent me a parcel, which seemed plausible as my birthday was coming up.
‘When I clicked the link, the site was identical to the Royal Mail one — they’d even set up redirects so the URLs looked right on the pages I checked.’
On the next day, the false bank representative called with fraudulent claims regarding suspicious payments.
Emmeline says: ‘I said that the transactions weren’t authorised by me, and they asked if I could think of a time when someone could have got my details. The text was then returned to me.
‘From then on I was at their mercy — when someone tells you your money is at risk, all you care about is keeping it safe.
‘I wasn’t thinking clearly and he convinced me to transfer all the money to a different account.
‘We went through all the security steps — even the number he called from matched the one on my bank website.’
Emmeline transferred £1,000 — her entire savings — but realised it was a scam when they also tried to get her to move her overdraft.
She says: ‘They’re master manipulators and know exactly how to prey on your panic, so teaching people how to do it is horrible.
‘The people who sell these scam lessons are lower than low.
‘I really think more needs to be done by social media platforms because at the moment it seems to be far too easy to sell these scams online.’
The British Retail Consortium said retailers spent £160 million on cyber security in 2019/20, the most recent figures available.
Lessons also contained a guide for “noobies”, or new scammers. This explained in plain language how these frauds are done, as well as a glossary.
Scammers can also use the victim’s details to apply for payday loans and then pocket them.
They transferred the money to a virtual bank card. This has fewer checks than a physical one and doesn’t require facial recognition.
Fraud Bible: Fill in accurate information about the victim, including address and phone number.
Once approved, you’ll have instant access to your virtual credit card. It is now possible to apply for loans, and have them transferred into your virtual account.
The guide also includes a description of a Universal Credit Method to prevent benefits fraud. Instead, ‘chill out’ with Universal Credit’ online through messaging.
Other tips to ‘stay safe’ when ‘clicking’ — also posted on the TikTok page — are: only using public wifi such as Starbucks’, having a separate burner phone or laptop, regularly switching sim cards and deleting your cookies and cache before ‘clicking’.
He advises selling the stolen goods on eBay, but advertises his swag on his TikTok page, which has videos of a Gucci pouch which he ordered from Flannels and then sold for £200 — less than a third of its retail cost. With a laugh, he answers, “I clicked them.” They are basically free.
In an advertisement titled “Wanna start clicking?” he displays images of luxurious items like Gucci pouches or Louis Vuitton bags. He also adds, ‘Message For Fraud Bible 100+ Methods.
Scam artist tee.clickz – who has millions of followers – has a video on TikTok advertising: ‘lessons, fullz, bins and methods’. According to his TikTok profile, he says that he will never work again a 9-5 job.
He also uploaded a TikTok video showing a typical day of a clicker. The fraudster collects cash from banks, shows off his Rolex watch and eats in expensive restaurants.
The music to this video is London Scammer rap, which has the lyrics “I see, I want, and I click it.”
For £20 he later provided online tutoring, in which he answered our questions about the scam.
When asked where to get ‘fullz’, he directed us to a second scammer who offered to sell us seven hacked full card, bank and personal details of UK victims for £150. We declined.
UK Finance spokesmen said that customers are protected legally against unauthorised card fraud. The industry also takes action to prevent fraud.
The banks are constantly monitoring for fraudulent transactions. To keep their customers safe, they have introduced an additional layer of authentication when making online payments.
According to an eBay spokesperson, stolen property is not allowed to be sold by eBay.
“We have teams of dedicated people who collaborate closely with law enforcement in order to stop and disrupt illegal activities and conduct investigations on sellers that may be violating this policy. This will allow us to take the necessary action.
After being alerted to by the Mail, TikTok had the videos removed. The spokesman said that safety and wellness of the community was a priority. We don’t allow any content to encourage or enable criminal activity. These guidelines are being broken by technology and humans. We will remove them.
investigations@dailymail.co.uk