UK charges suspects linked to Russian Coms call spoofing platform
UK authorities charged five people following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into Russian Coms, a major caller ID spoofing platform used by criminals to make over 1.8 million scam calls.
The five people charged are 28-year-old Ayoub Sehailia, 30-year-old Zakkaria Sehailia, 30-year-old Usman Din, 29-year-old Denis Ozmus, and 53-year-old Fadila Salem, 53, all from London.
The list of charges includes conspiracy to supply articles for use in connection with fraud, transferring or converting criminal property, and, in Zakkaria Sehailia’s case, failing to comply with a notice to provide phone passcodes. All five are scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, August 14.
“The platform, established in 2020, started as a handset and then moved to a web-based application, with both products being marketed and sold. They allowed criminals to hide their identity by appearing to call from pre-selected numbers. These would often be of financial institutions, telecommunications companies and law enforcement agencies with the aim of stealing funds and personal details from victims,” the NCA said on Monday.
“Following an NCA investigation, five individuals have been charged in relation to supplying Russian Coms devices and apps and offences relating to money made from allegedly selling the devices.”
Since 2020, when it first surfaced, the platform has been linked to tens of millions in financial losses affecting an estimated 170,000 victims.
As the NCA revealed in March 2024, when it took down the Russian Coms platform, hundreds of criminals paid for six-month contracts, priced at £1,200 to £1,400 in cryptocurrency, to use its “flagship” services.
Until its shutdown, criminals used the platform to make over 1.3 million calls to 500,000 unique phone numbers across more than 107 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Norway, and France, resulting in average losses of over £9,400.
Promoted on Telegram, Snapchat, and Instagram, Russian Coms was available as a web app and as a handset, offering customers encrypted calls, a web phone, no-logs, international calls, voice-changing services, instant handset wipes, and 24/7 support.
Scammers used Russian Coms to spoof bank phone numbers, which helped them gain the targets’ trust. They then persuaded the victims to transfer their money to attacker-controlled accounts to protect their savings, claiming the victims’ accounts had been involved in fraudulent activity.
The platform’s takedown followed arrests of three men in Newham, London, two of whom were believed to be its administrators and developers.
At the time, law enforcement in the UK and international partners, supported by Europol, also announced plans for further action against people who used the platform to make fraudulent calls. Russian Coms’ shutdown was part of a broader effort called “Operation Henhouse” that led to 290 arrests across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
