"Since 2020, the platform has been linked to tens of millions in financial losses affecting an estimated 170,000 victims."
That is the scale behind new criminal charges in London tied to Russian Coms, a caller-ID spoofing platform that national investigators say let fraudsters pose as banks, telecoms and law enforcement to trick victims into handing over money and personal data. The National Crime Agency (NCA) says five people have now been charged following its probe.
Who has been charged and what they face
The NCA charged five London residents: 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. The list of charges includes conspiracy to supply articles for use in connection with fraud and transferring or converting criminal property. Zakkaria Sehailia additionally faces a charge of failing to comply with a notice to provide phone passcodes.
All five are scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, August 14.
How Russian Coms operated — features and sales model
According to the NCA, Russian Coms was established in 2020 and evolved from a physical handset to a web‑based application, with both products marketed and sold. The platform offered customers encrypted calls, a web phone, a “no‑logs” claim, international calling, voice‑changing services, instant handset wipes, and 24/7 support.
Users could select numbers that would appear on victims’ caller ID screens; the NCA says those pre‑selected numbers were often of financial institutions, telecommunications companies and law enforcement agencies. Promoted on Telegram, Snapchat and Instagram, the service was available either as a web app or as a handset and included features designed to help users avoid detection.
Pricing, contracts and scale of abuse
In March 2024, the NCA disclosed that hundreds of criminals had paid for six‑month contracts to use Russian Coms’ “flagship” services, typically priced at £1,200 to £1,400 and paid in cryptocurrency. The agency says those contracts underpinned a global fraud operation.
The scale of abuse reported by the NCA is stark and appears in multiple figures within the agency’s public account: at the outset of the investigation the platform was tied to more than 1.8 million scam calls, and the NCA later reported that, until its shutdown, criminals used Russian Coms 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. The NCA also reported average losses of over £9,400 for affected victims.
Enforcement actions: takedown, arrests and Operation Henhouse
The platform’s takedown followed arrests of three men in Newham, London, two of whom were believed to be administrators and developers of Russian Coms. The NCA said it shut down the platform used by hundreds of criminals to defraud victims worldwide.
Law enforcement in the UK, supported by international partners and Europol, announced plans for further action against people who used the platform to make fraudulent calls. The shutdown was part of a wider effort dubbed "Operation Henhouse," which the NCA says led to 290 arrests across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
How law enforcement, financial institutions, and victims should respond
- Law enforcement and international partners (including Europol): The NCA’s action shows coordinated takedown and follow‑up prosecutions are central to disrupting spoofing platforms. The agency has already moved from takedown to charging named suspects and signalled plans for further action against platform users.
- Financial institutions and telecommunications companies: These organizations are named in the NCA’s account as the identities most commonly spoofed. They will need to continue communicating with customers about authentic contact channels and work with investigators when spoofing is detected to trace attacker‑controlled accounts where victims were directed to transfer funds.
- Victims and the general public: The NCA’s reporting ties spoofed calls to high individual losses — average reported losses exceeded £9,400 — and to tactics that claim accounts are at risk and urge transfers to “safe” accounts. The public should be aware that numbers on a caller ID can be falsified and that the platform was actively promoted on messaging and social platforms.
The NCA’s case brings visible consequences for those alleged to have built, marketed and sold the tools behind large‑scale spoofing. Court proceedings set for August 14 will be the next public step in a probe that began with a March 2024 takedown and that, according to the agency, disrupted a commercial operation servicing hundreds of criminal users worldwide.
