Man who created ‘one-stop shop for phishing’ jailed

A man responsible for running a global phishing service, used by scammers to trick people into handing over their details, has been jailed.

Zak Coyne, 24, used his technical expertise to facilitate extensive fraudulent conduct worldwide by creating and running a subscription-based service for fraudsters via a website called LabHost.

Coyne, of Huddersfield, appeared in Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on 14 April 2025 after previously pleading guilty to making or supplying articles for use in fraud, encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence and transferring criminal property.

He was sentenced to eight-and-a-half-years' imprisonment.

Thomas Short, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Zak Coyne operated a phishing service that provided fraudsters with the tools to impersonate trusted institutions and steal sensitive information from unsuspecting victims.

“This was a sophisticated worldwide criminal enterprise which enabled others to perpetrate fraud on a massive scale, resulting in losses totalling more than £100 million.

“Fraud is far from a victimless crime and the harm caused by Coyne’s offending are measured not just in monetary terms, but also in the distress inflicted on countless victims who fell prey to these scams.

“This was a complex case, but the prosecution team, together with law enforcement partners, was able to unravel an intricate web of digital evidence which linked Coyne to the offending and build a strong case against him, resulting in his guilty pleas.

“The CPS will be pursuing confiscation proceedings against the defendant to recover his ill-gotten gains and prevent him from financially benefitting from his criminality. Also, because of the severity of the offending, we will be making an application for a Serious Crime Prevention Order to make sure that Coyne does not engage in similar offending when he is eventually released.”

Building the case

The CPS authorised the charges against Coyne following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police, supported by international law enforcement partners.

Between August 2021 and October 2023, Coyne had an integral role in the creation, operation and administration of the LabHost website.

Labhost described itself as a “one-stop shop for phishing” created “for spammers by spammers”.

It operated globally and, for a substantial monthly membership fee, the website would provide its subscribers with access to phishing pages to defraud victims. These pages looked like real major banking, government and commercial websites - but were fake.

The wide selection of pages offered by LabHost enabled its subscribers to target victims and secure as much information as possible from them, either to sell to others or to use to commit fraud.           

LabHost’s services facilitated authorised push payment (APP) fraud, whereby the subscriber could secure sufficient information to persuade a victim to transfer their money to accounts under the fraudster’s control.

Using an encrypted messaging service, Coyne also offered technical support and advice to his subscribers and assisted them in committing fraud.

During the period of his involvement, LabHost enabled thousands of criminals worldwide to defraud at least one million victims in 91 countries.

The total losses to victims of fraud enabled by LabHost in the UK exceeds £32 million, with the total global losses estimated to be at least £100 million.

Coyne himself received $230,000 in cryptocurrency for designing and administering the illicit site. This money was laundered as it was moved between different crypto-currency accounts, transferred to his personal bank accounts and converted into cash by a third-party individual.

Coyne was arrested on 14 April 2024 at Manchester Airport and his devices were subsequently seized. The investigation uncovered a large amount of digital evidence, including the website server data obtained via liaison with international partners, which the prosecution used to build a strong case and successfully link Coyne to the offending.

Commander Stephen Clayman, Specialist Crime - Frontline Policing, Metropolitan Police Service, said: “The outcome of this case demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the Met in pursuing individuals like Coyne who mastermind a network of fraudulent activity, which ultimately brings misery to thousands of innocent people.

“This also demonstrates the commitment across law enforcement to identify and hold those to account who facilitate criminal enabling functions and think they can remain undetected. We will find you and take action.

“This has been monumental operation lead by the Met and I would like to thank all the partners (including the NCA, City of London Police and Cyber Defence Alliance) involved for their invaluable input and without whom, this would not have been a success.  

“We will continue to work across law enforcement and key stakeholders, including international partners, to ensure that the Met contributes to the ongoing system response to cyber-related fraud."

Edvardas Šileris, Head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), said: “The dismantling of LabHost is a clear example of the impact that cross-border cooperation has on combatting cybercrime.

“By leveraging the collective expertise of our law enforcement partners, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) has helped disrupt a major phishing-as-a-service platform, safeguarding victims and making it harder for criminals to operate with impunity.

“This operation highlights the critical importance of international collaboration in confronting the evolving threat posed by cybercriminals. We congratulate all partners involved for their hard work and commitment to bringing these criminals to justice.”