A man has pleaded guilty to sending out many fraudulent text messages linked to Covid-19 following an investigation by the United Kingdom's Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), a specialist police unit funded by the banking industry. The 20-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation and one count possession of articles for use in fraud, after being arrested and charged by DCPCU officers. Officers from the unit were also able to recover bank account informationthat had been harvested through the scams and share them with the banking industry, enabling over 200 customer accounts to be protected. Intelligence work by the DCPCU and Action Fraud identified that the suspect was involved in sending large-scale 'smishing' text message campaigns exploiting concerns around Covid-19 to defraud the public. Some of the fraudulent messages claimed to be from the UK government and offered a tax refund as a result of the pandemic.
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