9 people were arrested yesterday by London police, suspected of being part of a sophisticated global network of criminals who used false identities and shady credit cards to buy thousands of iPhones under contract, before using them to make millions of pounds through premium phone lines.

The Telegraph reports that by using SIM cards and automated dialing technology, the gang would use the mobile phones to call the premium-rate numbers – which they had set up themselves – before waiting to be paid by network provider O2, who in turn were left waiting for a payment from the premium line owner, which of course, never came.

As ever with this kind of scam, it was greed that was the undoing of the gang. In July, O2 noticed that over £1.2 million had been stolen and so, informed police. The month long investigation ended yesterday with the arrests across the country, and seizure of evidence that included phones, SIM cards, fake passports, cash and documents.

It is thought that a middleman shipped the iPhones abroad where they couldn’t be blocked by the UK networks and could be sold on at huge profits. However, police have stated they are unsure as to the whereabouts of these profits, as all suspects were living  with few expensive assets, with the exception of “relatively smart cars”.

The arrests took place just 24 hours before Thames Valley police announced they would be targeting phone-stealing gangs at Reading Festival. The BBC reports that the gangs, who police believe to be from somewhere in Eastern Europe, are operating at major public events such as music festivals, before passing their stolen hauls on abroad.

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