Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]

Royals Rendezvous Statement
Royals Rendezvous has moved to a new location, please go to royalsrendezvous.co.uk to continue the discussion.

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Laurel Park FC suffer severe fraud
Topic Started: 7 May 2017, 08:44 PM (140 Views)
daib0
Member Avatar
Inter-Forum Gamemaster!
Get Reading

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/amateur-football/laurel-park-fc-calls-communitys-12984015


Laurel Park FC calls for community's support after online fraud

The Lower Earley-based club was conned out of nearly £30,000 by online scammers

A Lower Earley youth football club which was the victim of an online scam has called on the community to back its fun day and teams. Laurel Park FC, based in the recreation ground in Rushey Way, fell victim to a scam which saw them lose around £28,800.

The club, for youngsters between six and 18 years old, has confirmed it will continue to run despite the significant losses. And although it is not looking for donations, it is calling on people or businesses to sponsor one of the club's teams for next season in a bid to keep ensure the teams can play.

A fun day will also be held on Saturday, July 1, where there will be a tournaments, raffles, a barbecue and trophy presentations among other things at the ground.

Club development officer Ian Jobson said: "Our primary reason for releasing this story was to raise awareness of these scams. If we can stop one other club in the country from falling into the same trap then we have achieved that aim. So we would urge everyone to continue to share the story, make as many people aware of the dangers as possible and stop these scammers from targeting honest volunteers, and more importantly the children we support."

He added: "The club has been around for over 20 years and as we have stated, nothing will stop us from getting children out playing in yellow and green on a Saturday morning. We already have two new teams planned to start with us for next season, and we urge local people to come and get involved in the club so we can continue to get new girls and boys involved in playing football."




I'm not sure what's happened here - how exactly did they come to lose that vast amount of money? Were their accounts tapped or phished, or did they innocently pay out that quantity of cash expecting something in return?






Royals Rendezvous - a specialist and friendly Reading FC fan forum
Cello man... VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEVmGOEMJLE&t=12s Please share !
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Owlish52
Member Avatar
RR Foreign Legion - Across the Pond - View from Texas
From the article at http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/amateur-football/laurel-park-fc-vows-fight-12979810 it looks as if someone faked email(s) from the club chairman to their treasurer, directing him to make payments to certain accounts, supposedly to firm(s) to do work for the club... From Barclays, the bank receiving the fraudulent transfers:
Quote:
 
"This scam is a tragic case of criminal theft by a fraudster impersonating the chairman in an email to an employee within his business,"
The scope of the fraud and the use of old accounts (one or more from 2007, per Barclays) makes me suspect a current or former bank employee might have been involved, as they could have had knowledge of the club's approximate balance and of old, inactive accounts that could by 'hijacked' for such a scheme.

See also http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-berkshire-39795228/email-scam-costs-football-club-28000 & https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/29/email-scammers-target-youth-football-team-barclays - the Guardian article has a few more details.
Edited by Owlish52, 8 May 2017, 01:52 AM.
"It could have been worse with Hillary..." - Owlish52
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Local Issues · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Royals Rendezvous - 2013-16