The infiltration of encrypted comms provider EncroChat has been hailed as a major victory for police in their battle against serious crimes like the supply of guns and drugs. However, one police analyst working for the UK’s Cheshire Constabulary undermined the surveillance of criminal messages by tipping off users of EncroChat. As a result, Natalie Mottram (pictured left) was sentenced last week at Liverpool Crown Court to three years and nine months in prison.
Mottram had been seconded to the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit where she was responsible for analyzing intelligence obtained from EncroChat. But it was apparent that there was a leak in the operation soon after her work began. On April 24, 2020, an individual who cannot be named for legal reasons warned another EncroChat user that:
I no [sic] a lady who works for the police. This is not hearsay. Direct to me. They can access Encro software. And are using to intercept forearms [sic] only at the moment. There [sic] software runs 48 hours behind real time. So have ur burns one day max. And try to avoid giving postcodes over it.
In other words, the police investigation into firearms meant that messages sent using any phone on the EncroChat network should be deleted (‘burned’) within a day to prevent the police obtaining a copy. The unnamed individual went on to advise:
Her words was are you on Encro, I said no why, I only sell a bit of bud. She said cool just giving you heads up. Because NCA now have access. But she wouldn’t lie.
‘Bud’ is slang for marijuana and the NCA is the UK’s National Crime Agency. The NCA turned the tables on Mottram by giving her a fake intelligence log that referred to Jonathan Kay (pictured right) to see how she would respond. Mottram left work that day to drive to the house that Kay shared with his partner, Leah Bennett. Mottram arrived at the house at 5.22pm, just seven minutes after Kay had returned home. Bennett’s phone was used at 5.26pm to set up a meeting between Kay and the partner of the unnamed individual mentioned above.
Police also used phone geolocation data to confirm that Mottram had visited Kay at his house on two previous locations. During one of these visits she accessed her police files whilst there. Both of these visits coincided with communications between Kay and the unnamed individual.
This story illustrates how even the most sophisticated technological methods can be undermined if insufficient attention is paid to human flaws. The police commented on Mottram’s conviction by observing ‘nobody is above the law’ but questions should be asked about the adequacy of the vetting that occurred before Mottram was hired and prior to her being given access to intelligence obtained through comms surveillance. Mottram’s stupid actions made it relatively easy to identify her as the source of the leak. She worked in analyzing intelligence obtained through comms surveillance but seemingly did not realize her own phone could be used to link her to a criminal. How many leaks remain undetected because other corrupt police employees are more careful about how they tip off crooks?
The NCA press release about Mottram’s prison sentence can be found here.
