Company director leads crusade against cyber crime

Caroline Coats is leading a one woman crusade against international cyber crime after she became a victim and was locked up in police custody for 12 hours.

The company director from Montpellier was arrested in Birmingham and questioned overnight after she tried to withdraw money from her account.

Caroline cleared her name but she lost £14,000 of her savings to cyber gangs in the Ukraine.

She has now given up work to create a website giving information about cyber crime in a bid to stop other innocent people from falling prey.

Speaking from home, Caroline said: "I was taking out money from my bank when I was surrounded by police.

"I was handcuffed and taken to the station – it was terrifying. I was kept in a cell while they travelled to my home and searched through paperwork.

"I knew I had been conned but I concentrated on getting out."

Caroline was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing and released without charge.

But she was incensed that she had become a victim and had her savings stolen.

Caroline became embroiled in the scam as she searched for work in December last year.

Her CV was posted on a UK recruitment website and a German company called GMI Autos contacted her.

As a fluent German speaker she accepted a position as Senior Payments Product Manager.

The company transferred money into her account for her to move across to them.

She contacted the bank which confirmed the money was in her account and waiting to clear before transferring the equivalent money from her own savings to the company.

She took the job in good faith and had no idea that the company was a front for Ukrainian gangsters, who had hacked into a customer's bank account in Somerset and transferred £3,000 to her.

The experience has spurred Caroline to set up an internet site to warn others of cyber fraud.

Her site provides news, advice and research on the latest threats to computer users.

She said: "I was amazed when police said they had no dedicated unit to investigate cyber crime outside of London.

"It means members of the public are very exposed and it galvanised me into wanting to educate people.

"There are sites out there selling programmes to copy people's bank details.

"It's frightening and there's no unified site with details of what's out there and precautions that can be taken to minimise the risk."

Mark Coote, the Conservative's prospective Parliamentary candidate for Cheltenham, added: "Cyber crime is vast and the gap in provision when it comes to advice is also huge.

"Police do not currently have the resources to combat it effectively.

"The site will enable people to report their experiences and urge others to be aware of the dangers out there."

The site – www.cyberfraud.org.uk – is due to go live next month.

Inspector Paul Cruise of Gloucestershire Police, said: "Cheltenham Police take any incidents of fraud very seriously and Gloucestershire Constabulary has an economic crime unit, which assist with reports of such crimes and help other law enforcement agencies in their investigations."

If you have become a victim of fraud contact Gloucestershire Constabulary on 0845 090 1234.