Mobile phone fraud continues to grow, driven by organised misuse of addresses and the redirection of high-value handsets.
This session will explore how businesses, law enforcement and partners such as Royal Mail are working together to better understand and disrupt this threat, drawing on insights linked to Operation Carrow.
Led by City of London Police, the operation targets organised criminal networks involved in large-scale handset fraud, including address manipulation and parcel interception. While focused on telco fraud, the tactics discussed are relevant across sectors, offering practical insight for anyone dealing with organised fraud and evolving criminal behaviours. The session will highlight how stronger data and intelligence sharing is enabling more joined-up, multi-agency action to reduce harm to organisations and consumers.
The event will take place on the roof terrace at Cifas head office, with summer drinks before and after. If the weather has other ideas, we will move indoors.
Confirmed speakers include Georgia Hibbs, Detective Inspector Rick Nolan and Stephen Ross, Lead Corporate Investigator, VodafoneThree.
The event is open to FWN Members, non-FWN Members can attend for a nominal amount of £10.00 - details available on registration.
Agenda:
17:30hrs to 18:00hrs - registration and welcome drinks
18:00hrs to 19:00hrs - speaker discussion
19:00hrs to 20:30hrs - networking reception
Speaker Bios:
Georgia Hibbs: Georgia has worked at Cifas for nearly seven years, initially joining as a Researcher before progressing into her current role as an Intelligence Analyst. In recent years, her work has focused on developing intelligence from both member reporting and the National Fraud Database, supporting a deeper understanding of emerging fraud threats. She works with members and external partners to analyse fraud trends and deliver actionable intelligence to strengthen organisational responses. Prior to joining Cifas, Georgia worked in intelligence across the Met Police, including in referencing and vetting, before moving into Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection where she worked on national analytical projects and supporting sensitive investigations.
Stephen Ross: Stephen is an experienced corporate investigator with over 15 years in fraud and investigation roles within the telecommunications sector. He began his career at Three UK in 2009 as an Investigator, specialising in retail-based internal and external investigations, before progressing to Lead Corporate Investigator in 2012. In this role, Stephen led complex fraud investigations overseeing both internal and external threats. Between 2019 and 2024, he also served as Co-Chair of the CCSG Central Intelligence Sub-Group for Op Carrow, in partnership with Cifas, supporting intelligence-sharing and collaborative responses to organised fraud. Following the merger creating VodafoneThree in 2025, Stephen moved into a new role as Lead Investigator, continuing to lead high-level investigative activity across the organisation.
Detective Inspector Rick Nolan: Rick is an experienced investigator with extensive law enforcement experience, with nearly three decades of operational work. He began his career with the Metropolitan Police Service in 1997, working predominantly within Trident, where he focused on major shooting investigations linked to organised crime groups. In 2010, Rick joined Operation Falcon, leading proactive fraud investigations into complex criminality including European distribution fraud, courier fraud, and the production of fraudulent credit cards. He later progressed to the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit in 2015, where he specialised in ransomware investigations and contributed to the disruption and takedown of some of the world’s largest fraud-as-a-service platforms. Since 2024, Rick has served as a Proactive Economic Crime Team Coordinator at the City of London Police, where he leads the coordination of national intensification activity targeting economic crime, including Op Carrow.
