In the early hours of this morning (Wednesday 27 March) officers from the Metropolitan Police Central e Crime Unit (PCeU) and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) Cyber Unit arrested a 28-year-old man from New Addington, Croydon, CR0, for conspiracy to defraud.
He has been taken to a south London Police Station and his computer and electronic equipment seized for examination.
This arrest is in connection with an ongoing operation investigating the distribution of malware designed to infect personal computers via the internet and then capture the user's personal details to facilitate fraudulent transactions.
PCeU and the SOCA Cyber Unit are conducting joint operations in anticipation of the setting up of a single National Cyber Crime Unit as part of the new National Crime Agency (NCA). The NCA will go live in October this year, subject to the passage of legislation through Parliament.
Members of the public are reminded to minimise the risk of infection through regularly updating anti-virus software and installing routine operating system patches (e.g. via Windows Update).