Mobile dealers sentenced for £1.6 million clawback fraud

Mobile phone dealers Jonathan Shulton and James Cahill have been convicted of fraud at Southwark Crown Court for their parts in a £1.6 million abuse of commission schemes. They'd claimed commission for connecting new customers and then liquidated their companies before networks had the opportunity to realise that the connections were fraudulent. Following a Serious Fraud Office investigation, Jonathan Shulton has been sentenced to a total of 27 months imprisonment, with James Cahill sentenced to a 240 hours community punishment order. [Press release]

Jailed VAT fraudster ordered to sell helicopter

Craig Johnson, who is serving 12-and-a-half years in prison for his part in a multi-million pound mobile phone related VAT fraud, has been ordered to repay £26 million to the UK government. It means he'll need to sell his helicopter, his stately home and several luxury cars. He faces an additional 10 years in prison if he doesn't repay the money: £8m within the next 12 months and the remainder within a further year. [Source: BBC News]

Mobile phone fraudster jailed for 12 years

35-year-old Craig Johnson from Staffordshire has been jailed for over 12 years for laundering more than £6 million through so-called 'carousel fraud' that involved the import and export of mobile phones. He's one of 21 people jailed following a £138 million VAT fraud investigation by HM Revenue and Customs. Craig Johnson bought a stately home with his gains, along with a yacht, two helicopters and luxury cars. [Sources: BBC News; Mobile News]

Dealers want non-paying customers blacklisted

A number of independent dealers have complained that networks are refusing to blacklist mobile phones when a customer connects using fraudulent information or doesn't pay their bill. They say that networks claim the handset is still owned by the person who bought it, while the dealers say the handset belongs to them until the end of the customer’s contract. The dealers point out that they're being 'clawed back' for commission when customers don't pay. [Source: FoneMag.co.uk; 'The Voice' column]

Regulator warns young people about SMS scams

25,000 mobile phone customers aged 18-24 have been sent a message from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) telling them they might have won £1,000 in cash. It was followed by a second message letting them know the message was part of a warning about scams. The original text said: Urgent! U may have won £1k cash with '2 Good 2 B True'. The follow-up message promoted SMSus, a new text message service from premium rate regulator PhonepayPlus, which allows users to text details of a premium rate number or shortcode they are suspicious about to 76787. They'll then be told the cost of using the premium rate number, details of the service provider and how to contact them. The service is free for most people but will cost no more than 12p. [Sources: BBC News, PhonepayPlus PDF press release]