Three UK men convicted of running website behind fraud calls during COVID-19 lockdown

The UK National Crime Agency announced that three men—Callum Picari, Vijayasidhurshan Vijayanathan, and Aza Siddeeque—pleaded guilty to operating otp.agency, a subscription service that used automated calls to trick victims into revealing one-time passcodes, enabling bypass of MFA and payment verification systems on multiple financial platforms. The site was seized in March 2021 following an investigation begun in June 2020, with evidence including a Telegram group used for advertising; Picari also faces money laundering charges. Sentencing is scheduled for November 2, 2024, and the NCA warns the public to remain vigilant against social engineering attempts.