EncroChat detectives have every secret codename used on Merseyside Users of the shadowy communications platform have been warned they have no place to hide Detectives have the username of every single EncroChat device thought to have been based on Merseyside. Each phone enabled with the software had a designated codename - known as a handle - which users operated under on the shadowy messaging service. And while many of the names exposed so far appear to have been randomly generated, some offer clues that could help identify the person behind the pseudonym. Europe's gangland has been on the backfoot since a joint French-Dutch operation breached EncroChat last year, granting investigators access to the messages and pictures of thousands of top-level criminals.