Episode 17 Fake Britain


Episode 17

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Episode 17. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it seems.

0:00:020:00:05

Welcome to Fake Britain.

0:00:050:00:07

SHOUTING

0:00:090:00:10

-Get down! Get down!

-Get on the floor now!

0:00:200:00:22

Put your hands behind your back now.

0:00:220:00:24

Here at the Fake Britain house, things might look familiar,

0:00:240:00:28

but don't be taken in, because this is a house that's filled with fakes.

0:00:280:00:33

In this series, I'll be revealing the counterfeits,

0:00:330:00:36

copies and cons that are flooding the market, fooling the public,

0:00:360:00:40

making money for the criminals and maybe even putting you in danger.

0:00:400:00:44

We'll be investigating those fraudsters

0:00:440:00:46

who are cashing in by selling us something that isn't real,

0:00:460:00:50

and we'll be showing you how to avoid falling for a fake.

0:00:500:00:55

Today on Fake Britain -

0:00:550:00:57

fraudsters faking their gas meter readings...

0:00:570:01:00

There are several small holes,

0:01:000:01:01

and essentially what they're now doing is providing a fake reading.

0:01:010:01:05

..and the disastrous consequences this can have on innocent people.

0:01:050:01:09

Move back now.

0:01:090:01:11

There was a loud bang, and the house just shook.

0:01:110:01:15

Have you felt the force of the fakes?

0:01:150:01:17

We reveal how fake film posters have become a bit of a hit.

0:01:170:01:21

Immediately knew as soon as this was unwrapped and came out of the tube

0:01:210:01:24

that this was fake. I felt quite conned.

0:01:240:01:28

And we uncover the shocking truth about the fake cheese

0:01:280:01:31

that could be on your pizza.

0:01:310:01:33

They had ingredients which were fake, and it isn't actually cheese at all.

0:01:330:01:37

Almost every house and commercial property in Britain

0:01:420:01:45

has one or both of these tucked away in a cupboard somewhere -

0:01:450:01:49

the gas and electricity meters.

0:01:490:01:52

They calculate how much energy we're using

0:01:520:01:54

and so how big our bills will be.

0:01:540:01:57

But across the country, meters are being tampered with

0:01:570:02:00

to produce fake readings and get those bills down.

0:02:000:02:04

It's been estimated £400 million worth of energy

0:02:040:02:08

is stolen in the UK each year.

0:02:080:02:11

As we've discovered, getting those fake bills

0:02:110:02:13

could put people's lives at risk.

0:02:130:02:16

This is what could happen if you tamper with your gas meter.

0:02:170:02:21

I was going to say - my housemate is still in 115.

0:02:210:02:25

Move back now.

0:02:250:02:26

Firefighters were called to an explosion at a house on Dundas Road

0:02:260:02:29

in Sheffield, a terraced street on the outskirts of the city.

0:02:290:02:33

Sylvia Dixon was at home just across the road.

0:02:360:02:39

There was a loud bang, and the house just shook.

0:02:390:02:43

It frightened me. It frightened me, so I thought,

0:02:430:02:47

"Is it a bomb? Has somebody set a bomb off?"

0:02:470:02:50

The entire street was thrown into chaos

0:02:510:02:54

as a suspected gas leak blew this house wide open.

0:02:540:02:58

You have to move back. Come on.

0:02:580:03:00

It's dangerous. Move back, there could be another explosion.

0:03:000:03:02

And then I saw the smoke and the fire,

0:03:020:03:05

and then I saw the young man that lived there

0:03:050:03:08

more or less blown out of the house into the middle of the road.

0:03:080:03:12

This man was in the house where the explosion took place,

0:03:140:03:17

and suffered serious burns.

0:03:170:03:20

Four other people, including children, were hospitalised,

0:03:200:03:23

and 50 residents were evacuated.

0:03:230:03:25

I don't think they'll ever forget it.

0:03:250:03:28

You know, the people who lived there, they will never forget it.

0:03:280:03:32

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Chris Blacksell is shocked by what he saw.

0:03:320:03:37

Really significant type of incident to arrive at,

0:03:370:03:40

because there's clearly the blast damage on the house,

0:03:400:03:43

there's clearly a serious fire still ignited.

0:03:430:03:46

You don't know at that stage, probably, whether there's someone still in the property.

0:03:460:03:50

After the dust had settled,

0:03:500:03:51

a complex investigation was carried out,

0:03:510:03:53

which traced the explosion back to the gas meter.

0:03:530:03:56

It showed signs that it had been tampered with.

0:03:560:03:59

So what you're looking at here is the gas meter itself,

0:03:590:04:02

and the pipe which would be sat on top of the gas meter,

0:04:020:04:05

which is known as an anaconda to many people.

0:04:050:04:07

But it's a pipe that actually goes onto the gas meter itself.

0:04:070:04:10

So we're looking at someone deliberately tampering with the meter.

0:04:100:04:14

And this wasn't the only one.

0:04:140:04:17

The investigation also found tampered gas meters

0:04:170:04:20

at five other houses in the same street.

0:04:200:04:23

I think one of the really worrying things about that case

0:04:230:04:26

was that, as part of the ongoing investigation,

0:04:260:04:28

there were a significant number of houses down that street

0:04:280:04:31

that had had their meters tampered with to try and fake their meter readings.

0:04:310:04:34

So we did see other houses down that street

0:04:340:04:36

where gas meters had been bypassed,

0:04:360:04:38

where there'd been inappropriate pipe work put in place,

0:04:380:04:41

and where there was again the risk

0:04:410:04:43

of that happening again down the same street.

0:04:430:04:45

And it could be happening in a house near you.

0:04:460:04:49

Around 25,000 tampered meters are found in the UK each year,

0:04:490:04:54

for the sole purpose of faking the meter readings.

0:04:540:04:58

It's estimated that thousands more go undetected.

0:04:580:05:01

May save a bit of money in the short term,

0:05:010:05:03

but can put yourselves, your family at risk of dying.

0:05:030:05:08

But the authorities are fighting back.

0:05:080:05:10

It's 11am somewhere in the Midlands.

0:05:100:05:13

British Gas Protection Officers Richard Cook and Joel Brown

0:05:130:05:17

are clamping down on the criminals

0:05:170:05:18

putting innocent people's lives at risk

0:05:180:05:20

by faking their energy meter readings.

0:05:200:05:24

It's an offence that can lead to thousands of pounds in fines

0:05:240:05:27

and five years in prison.

0:05:270:05:29

Richard and Joel have received intelligence that suggests

0:05:290:05:32

a number of fast-food outlets in the Midlands have been tampering

0:05:320:05:35

with their gas meters to deliver fake meter readings.

0:05:350:05:38

The first stop is a fast-food takeaway.

0:05:410:05:43

Their gas consumption, their yearly gas consumption,

0:05:450:05:47

is very low for the type of property that they're trading as.

0:05:470:05:50

So their gas consumption should be

0:05:500:05:52

probably 10, maybe 12 times what they're actually using.

0:05:520:05:55

Joel and Rich suspect this business could be using

0:05:570:05:59

one of many methods to fake their meter reading.

0:05:590:06:02

From British Gas. Just for the gas meter, please, mate.

0:06:040:06:06

The gas reading? It's just there.

0:06:060:06:08

Just in there, yeah?

0:06:080:06:10

-There are several drill holes under there.

-Is there?

0:06:100:06:12

Have a look.

0:06:120:06:13

Now, underneath here, it should just be completely sealed up.

0:06:150:06:19

What we've found is, down here, there are several small holes -

0:06:190:06:22

it looks to be three or four small holes.

0:06:220:06:24

Joel knows the holes are a means of interfering

0:06:240:06:27

with the gas meter's readings.

0:06:270:06:29

Essentially what they're now doing is providing a fake reading.

0:06:290:06:34

They've damaged the integrity of the meter.

0:06:340:06:36

Obviously it's part of a Gas Safe installation,

0:06:360:06:39

so there is the potential for a gas leak.

0:06:390:06:41

This is exactly the type of unsafe practice

0:06:410:06:44

that Joel, Rich and the team are determined to stamp out.

0:06:440:06:47

Outside, Rich has calculated how much gas this kebab shop has used

0:06:480:06:53

since they've been with British Gas -

0:06:530:06:55

a period of over two months.

0:06:550:06:57

So basically with interfering with the meter,

0:06:570:07:00

he's actually created ultimately a fake reading, so what we've done,

0:07:000:07:04

we've billed him for the shortfall of gas

0:07:040:07:06

that he's prevented from being recorded on that meter.

0:07:060:07:09

Calculations complete, Rich is about to find out

0:07:090:07:12

the true cost of this faking operation.

0:07:120:07:15

So that's the bill there for the customer.

0:07:150:07:17

It's for £2,617.66.

0:07:170:07:20

It's hardly loose change.

0:07:200:07:22

But news of the bill is not the only thing Rich and Joel need to deliver.

0:07:220:07:25

So right now, we're going to switch all the gas appliances off,

0:07:250:07:28

make it safe. We've got to disconnect the meter.

0:07:280:07:31

Left with no choice. OK?

0:07:310:07:33

My colleague's going to come round and start switching everything off,

0:07:330:07:36

and I'll get the work started, OK?

0:07:360:07:38

The police will also be informed about the theft of gas

0:07:380:07:41

and the meter tampering, and may decide to investigate.

0:07:410:07:44

So the meter's all been removed now.

0:07:440:07:46

They've got no further gas supply until it's all resolved.

0:07:460:07:49

For now, they're going to hit this business where it hurts -

0:07:490:07:52

with no gas supply, it's going to be forced to close.

0:07:520:07:56

They won't be able to carry on trading

0:07:560:07:58

until they make their full payment, and obviously,

0:07:580:08:00

they're going to have to answer to whichever police investigation

0:08:000:08:03

comes forward, but there'll be no more trading from this property.

0:08:030:08:06

And they're not the only ones.

0:08:080:08:11

In 24 hours, Joel and Rich's sweep through the Midlands

0:08:110:08:14

uncovered a number of tampered meters and fake readings.

0:08:140:08:18

The meter's now under registered,

0:08:200:08:22

which means any readings given are now also fake.

0:08:220:08:24

They're on a very busy stretch of a high street,

0:08:240:08:26

so if anything were to go wrong with this meter,

0:08:260:08:28

it could be quite catastrophic, obviously, towards innocent people.

0:08:280:08:32

Not only were they highly dangerous,

0:08:320:08:34

they were stealing tens of thousands of pounds worth of gas.

0:08:340:08:38

The bill is £1,297.07.

0:08:400:08:44

-How much is it?

-£9,088.54.

0:08:460:08:50

You don't have to pay this right now, but at the same time,

0:08:500:08:53

we don't have to leave you a gas meter right now.

0:08:530:08:55

Later, we find the extraordinary lengths some fraudsters

0:08:590:09:02

are willing to go to in order to fake their meter readings.

0:09:020:09:06

What's happened here is the customer has decided

0:09:060:09:08

to use a bicycle inner tube to bridge...

0:09:080:09:12

the position where the meter would be.

0:09:120:09:14

In terms of danger, these are lethal.

0:09:140:09:16

HE INHALES

0:09:210:09:24

That smells good. There's nothing like a freshly-cooked pizza.

0:09:240:09:27

This one's a cheese and tomato,

0:09:270:09:30

which you might think is a bit boring.

0:09:300:09:32

But it's far from boring.

0:09:320:09:34

It's our next story, because it's a fake -

0:09:340:09:37

not the pizza, but the cheese.

0:09:370:09:39

And as we're about to show you, so-called cheese

0:09:390:09:42

that isn't cheese at all is being sold to us all over Britain.

0:09:420:09:46

OK, so we didn't invent it,

0:09:480:09:50

but clearly we love a slice of pizza.

0:09:500:09:54

It's estimated nearly two-thirds of Brits

0:09:540:09:56

eat at least one pizza every month.

0:09:560:09:59

A basic pizza consists of a dough base, tomato sauce

0:10:000:10:03

and, of course, cheese - usually mozzarella.

0:10:030:10:06

And at this South London pizzeria, that's exactly what you'll get.

0:10:060:10:10

But sadly, there are pizza sellers all over the UK

0:10:140:10:17

who are telling us we're getting cheese,

0:10:170:10:19

but in reality giving us a fake -

0:10:190:10:22

something known as cheese analogue.

0:10:220:10:26

It looks and smells like cheese,

0:10:260:10:28

but is missing one vital ingredient, dairy fat, and therefore,

0:10:280:10:32

in the eyes of the law, it can't be labelled as cheese.

0:10:320:10:35

Here at Fake Britain, we're getting a bit fed up with it,

0:10:370:10:40

and so is Trading Standards Lead Officer

0:10:400:10:42

for Food and Nutrition, Corinne Lowe.

0:10:420:10:45

Trading Standards have been finding cheese that's been mislabelled

0:10:450:10:49

in the takeaways and restaurants

0:10:490:10:51

and mobile catering vans across the country.

0:10:510:10:54

Cheese analogue is a much cheaper ingredient than real cheese,

0:10:540:10:58

therefore they've got a bigger profit margin

0:10:580:11:00

if they still charge the consumer for the price of real cheese.

0:11:000:11:05

So the fraudsters are motivated by money - no surprise there, then.

0:11:050:11:09

What's more, this cheese analogue has minimal nutritional value,

0:11:090:11:13

and isn't even a suitable alternative

0:11:130:11:15

for those with a lactose intolerance.

0:11:150:11:17

Here at Fake Britain, we decided to find out

0:11:190:11:21

just how widespread the problem is.

0:11:210:11:23

We visited three major cities around the country

0:11:230:11:26

to purchase some pizzas.

0:11:260:11:28

We went to Sheffield, Birmingham and London.

0:11:280:11:31

We bought ten cheese and tomato pizzas,

0:11:330:11:35

clearly labelled as cheese,

0:11:350:11:37

and we took them to Kent Scientific Services,

0:11:370:11:40

where head tester Jon Griffin agreed to inspect them

0:11:400:11:43

to see if they were actually cheese or if they were fakes.

0:11:430:11:47

They're saying it's with a cheese topping -

0:11:470:11:49

I would expect that to be a dairy cheese topping.

0:11:490:11:52

After testing for the presence of dairy fat in the cheese,

0:11:520:11:55

Jon found that one in five was fake.

0:11:550:11:58

They contained cheese analogue rather than dairy cheese.

0:11:580:12:02

They had ingredients which where fake.

0:12:020:12:04

In this case, it was cheese being described as cheese,

0:12:040:12:07

and it isn't actually cheese at all.

0:12:070:12:09

It's a significant percentage,

0:12:090:12:11

and you have only got to extrapolate that

0:12:110:12:13

across the number of products being sold out there in the UK,

0:12:130:12:15

you can actually mount up and see how big a problem it could well be.

0:12:150:12:19

That's exactly what we did.

0:12:200:12:22

And, if my basic maths is correct, that means we could be consuming

0:12:220:12:26

around 100 million fake cheese pizzas every year.

0:12:260:12:30

It is concerning.

0:12:300:12:31

I personally think that food fraud is certainly on the increase.

0:12:310:12:35

Everybody has to eat,

0:12:350:12:37

and the cost of food is getting higher.

0:12:370:12:39

So there is a way of companies and individuals

0:12:390:12:43

making quick profit out of this,

0:12:430:12:45

and the person who suffers, obviously, is the consumer.

0:12:450:12:48

We're not the only ones to be a bit suspicious about cheese.

0:12:490:12:53

Lancashire Trading Standards recently carried out tests

0:12:530:12:56

on 20 pizzas.

0:12:560:12:58

They revealed a staggering 19 out of 20 contained fake cheese.

0:12:580:13:03

Jon fears that the use of fake cheese is growing,

0:13:060:13:09

and it might not just be pizza that's falling foul of the fakers.

0:13:090:13:13

If we looked wider and looked at different products,

0:13:130:13:15

you could actually find the same fake cheese

0:13:150:13:17

on other and in other foods.

0:13:170:13:19

To me, it's an authenticity issue,

0:13:190:13:21

so the consumer is just not getting what they're paying for.

0:13:210:13:24

Earlier we saw the devastating effects tampering with energy meters

0:13:300:13:34

can have on innocent people.

0:13:340:13:36

I thought, "Is it a bomb?

0:13:360:13:38

"Has someone set a bomb off?"

0:13:380:13:41

And we followed British Gas as they discovered

0:13:410:13:43

businesses faking their meter readings.

0:13:430:13:46

They've damaged the integrity of the meter,

0:13:460:13:48

so there is the potential for a gas leak.

0:13:480:13:50

In Leicester, British Gas Revenue Protection boss, Mark Andrews,

0:13:500:13:55

knows all the tricks the criminals use to fake their meter readings.

0:13:550:13:59

There are a number of ways that people can choose to tamper

0:14:010:14:04

with their meters in order to create a fake meter reading

0:14:040:14:07

and generate a fake bill. One of the ways

0:14:070:14:10

is to tamper with the index reading itself.

0:14:100:14:14

The index is the box with the dials on it,

0:14:140:14:17

which registers how much gas you're using.

0:14:170:14:19

What the criminals have started doing

0:14:190:14:21

is tampering with the mechanism inside the box

0:14:210:14:24

to reduce the amount of gas use it clocks.

0:14:240:14:26

If Mark simulates gas being passed through the meter,

0:14:280:14:31

in this case with air, you can see the tamper in action.

0:14:310:14:34

What's happening is the gas is going through the meter,

0:14:340:14:37

it's not all being recorded.

0:14:370:14:39

The customer's happy, they're creating that fake meter reading

0:14:390:14:43

which is giving them a fake bill, at the end of the day.

0:14:430:14:46

But in order to clock the meter, you need to remove the blue seal,

0:14:460:14:50

which is like holding up a huge sign saying,

0:14:500:14:53

"I've tampered with my meter."

0:14:530:14:55

So the fakers have a crafty trick to cover up their tracks.

0:14:550:14:58

To hide the damage that they've done to the seal,

0:14:590:15:04

customers are using these fake seals

0:15:040:15:06

which they're able to buy from the internet,

0:15:060:15:09

and just putting them in place afterwards to look as new.

0:15:090:15:13

These criminals may be saving a few pounds,

0:15:150:15:17

but tampering with your gas meter is not only illegal,

0:15:170:15:20

it's highly unsafe.

0:15:200:15:23

Unfortunately, Mark's seeing more and more fake meter readings

0:15:230:15:26

created by a highly dangerous method

0:15:260:15:29

that involves tampering with the gas supply pipes.

0:15:290:15:32

And what's happened here is the customer has decided

0:15:320:15:35

to use a bicycle inner tube to bridge...

0:15:350:15:38

the position where the meter would be,

0:15:380:15:41

and this would go to the internal appliances at the property.

0:15:410:15:44

Whoever's done this is really riding his luck,

0:15:440:15:47

replacing the meter pipe for the inner tube

0:15:470:15:49

and then rotating the two over the course of the year.

0:15:490:15:53

And what happens then, of course,

0:15:530:15:55

is that they've created this fake meter reading

0:15:550:15:57

by the fact that most of the gas they've used

0:15:570:16:00

during that quarterly read period

0:16:000:16:01

has gone through the bypass rather than the meter.

0:16:010:16:05

In terms of danger, these are lethal,

0:16:050:16:07

and an explosion is a likely consequence of this type of tamper.

0:16:070:16:11

Sadly, it's not just the people faking their meter readings

0:16:110:16:14

that are cashing in on this market.

0:16:140:16:17

We recently found this bypass on an online auction site,

0:16:170:16:21

advertised as "dreaming of free gas".

0:16:210:16:24

We looked on the internet to find out just how big the business is

0:16:270:16:31

of selling parts needed to fake your meter reading.

0:16:310:16:34

A couple of clicks later, we found an online auction site

0:16:360:16:39

littered with an array of different fake seals

0:16:390:16:42

going for around £10 each, as well as entire meters up for sale.

0:16:420:16:47

These are illegal to fit yourself,

0:16:470:16:50

but they come wound back to zero -

0:16:500:16:52

a very primitive way of faking your meter reading.

0:16:520:16:55

What was more shocking was that when we searched for

0:16:570:17:00

"how to fake your gas meter guides",

0:17:000:17:03

we were falling over web pages and videos

0:17:030:17:06

giving instructions on how to do it,

0:17:060:17:08

including this video illustrating the wind back method

0:17:080:17:12

to fake your meter using a domestic vacuum cleaner.

0:17:120:17:15

But it's not just those that are having their meter readings faked

0:17:170:17:21

who are cashing in. Criminals are making money

0:17:210:17:24

by offering to come and tamper with gas meters for a fee.

0:17:240:17:27

These people do make a business out of doing it, until, of course,

0:17:270:17:30

we track them down and involve the police,

0:17:300:17:33

and then that business, hopefully, is soon terminated.

0:17:330:17:36

Some of the fraudsters claim to fake as many as 15 meters a day,

0:17:360:17:40

charging between £10 and £500 a time.

0:17:400:17:44

Some have gone as far as to start advertising their services

0:17:440:17:48

in newspapers, offering to come and fix your gas meter

0:17:480:17:51

and lower the bills, like this one Mark found

0:17:510:17:54

in a Mandarin language newspaper distributed in the UK.

0:17:540:17:59

Some of the translations from these read as follows:

0:17:590:18:04

"Get the super energy saving device to control the meter.

0:18:040:18:07

"One-off installation. Lifelong benefit.

0:18:070:18:10

"Conquers expensive British bills. 100% safe and reliable."

0:18:100:18:15

It doesn't stop with gas.

0:18:150:18:17

Later, we find out the fakery's gone dual fuel,

0:18:170:18:21

as we go on the road with Western Power

0:18:210:18:24

to uncover highly dangerous electricity meters.

0:18:240:18:27

They melt, they catch fire - you could be asleep at night

0:18:270:18:31

and this could be happening to your meter if you're tampering.

0:18:310:18:34

Movie posters. When the film has moved on from your local cinema,

0:18:390:18:43

most will be forgotten, but for a memorable or successful film,

0:18:430:18:48

the original poster can become valuable, like these -

0:18:480:18:51

Star Wars and Pulp Fiction, both worth thousands.

0:18:510:18:55

Or they would be if they were real. They're both fakes.

0:18:550:19:00

It takes an expert to tell the difference,

0:19:000:19:02

and that's why posters like these

0:19:020:19:05

are fooling collectors across the country.

0:19:050:19:07

From box office blockbusters to budget B-movies,

0:19:090:19:12

the market for original vintage movie posters in Britain is huge.

0:19:120:19:16

And in West London, poster dealer Liza Tesei

0:19:160:19:20

knows exactly why they're in demand.

0:19:200:19:22

An original movie poster is a tangible reminder

0:19:220:19:25

of our favourite film.

0:19:250:19:27

It's like you're owning an actual piece of history.

0:19:270:19:30

And they come at a price.

0:19:300:19:32

Rare posters like this Audrey Hepburn classic,

0:19:320:19:35

Breakfast At Tiffany's, will go for around £25,000.

0:19:350:19:39

In fact, it's not unheard of for some early cinema classics

0:19:390:19:43

from the 1920s to fetch over £400,000.

0:19:430:19:48

But this lucrative market has been hijacked by the fakers,

0:19:510:19:55

with swarms of cheap modern reprints

0:19:550:19:57

being sold as if they're original posters.

0:19:570:20:00

Poster collector turned dealer Mark Hochman

0:20:010:20:04

has been buying vintage movie posters for over 20 years,

0:20:040:20:08

and has first-hand experience of being duped by a fake.

0:20:080:20:11

Mark was in the market for a highly sought-after original

0:20:130:20:17

of the 1990s cult classic, Pulp Fiction.

0:20:170:20:21

This particular poster in its original form is extremely rare.

0:20:210:20:25

Probably only 100 to 150 originals are now known to exist.

0:20:260:20:30

Mark thought he'd bagged himself a bargain

0:20:320:20:34

when he struck a deal with an online seller for the poster,

0:20:340:20:37

which retails at around £1,000.

0:20:370:20:40

When I bought this poster, I genuinely believed

0:20:420:20:44

I was buying an original poster.

0:20:440:20:46

The photographs that I was sent were those of an original poster.

0:20:460:20:50

So, having checked out the picture, Mark parted with his money.

0:20:500:20:55

When the poster arrived, he was less than impressed.

0:20:550:20:58

It just didn't feel right. It didn't look right.

0:20:580:21:01

I immediately knew, as soon as this was unwrapped

0:21:010:21:03

and came out of the tube, that this was fake.

0:21:030:21:06

Mark was out of pocket, and his expert eye

0:21:060:21:08

was quick to spot the subtle mistakes that make it a fake.

0:21:080:21:12

Firstly, when it comes to fake movie posters, size does matter.

0:21:130:21:17

This poster, although it is minor,

0:21:190:21:22

actually comes in at just under 27 inches.

0:21:220:21:26

The original is just over.

0:21:260:21:29

And that's not the only mistake.

0:21:290:21:31

The film may have been a huge hit,

0:21:310:21:33

but the print quality on this fake isn't going to win any Oscars.

0:21:330:21:36

All of these fakes have the white speckle.

0:21:360:21:39

It's got a foggy look to it. Generally out of focus.

0:21:400:21:44

It's just... It's not right.

0:21:440:21:47

Mark's isn't an isolated case.

0:21:470:21:50

Poster dealer Liza has seen her fair share of fakes,

0:21:500:21:54

and knows just how convincing they can be.

0:21:540:21:57

Unfortunately, many of these fakes were done so well that in fact

0:21:580:22:02

many auction houses and top poster dealers have been fooled.

0:22:020:22:07

One of the most widely faked posters in existence

0:22:070:22:10

is the original Star Wars poster,

0:22:100:22:12

known in the business as the Star Wars Style C.

0:22:120:22:16

Star Wars was extremely popular,

0:22:160:22:19

and therefore would have been very profitable to fake.

0:22:190:22:23

At the time when they would have printed these fakes,

0:22:230:22:26

they would have printed, you know, thousands.

0:22:260:22:29

Perhaps tens of thousands.

0:22:290:22:31

So it's likely thousands of collectors out there

0:22:310:22:34

have unknowingly purchased these fakes.

0:22:340:22:38

But, unlike the fake poster Mark bought,

0:22:380:22:40

this one is the exact same size as the original,

0:22:400:22:44

which could fetch around £5,000 at auction.

0:22:440:22:48

However, there's one subtle giveaway.

0:22:480:22:52

On the fake, the easiest giveaway

0:22:520:22:55

is this hairline here on Princess Leia's back.

0:22:550:22:59

That's the immediate giveaway for the fake,

0:22:590:23:02

as opposed to on the original.

0:23:020:23:04

There are hundreds, if not thousands,

0:23:040:23:06

of collectors and movie buffs out there

0:23:060:23:08

getting their fingers burnt by these fakes.

0:23:080:23:11

Most don't even realise they've bought a fake

0:23:110:23:14

until they come to sell it.

0:23:140:23:16

When they bring it in to us to resell

0:23:160:23:18

and we tell them of that news,

0:23:180:23:20

of course they're extremely disappointed.

0:23:200:23:23

And one of these fakes is this lobby card.

0:23:230:23:25

A lobby card is a smaller poster designed for cinema lobbies,

0:23:250:23:29

and it purports to be from the 1983 hit Scarface.

0:23:290:23:33

So it's over 30 years old.

0:23:330:23:36

I took a look at his lobby card, and I said,

0:23:360:23:40

"Sir, you know, just so you know, this is actually not an original."

0:23:400:23:44

And of course he was horrified.

0:23:440:23:46

To the untrained eye, the fakes and the originals look the same.

0:23:460:23:50

But if you know what you're looking for, there's always a telltale sign.

0:23:500:23:54

It's quite obvious that you can tell this one is a fake.

0:23:540:23:57

This is what we call pretty much minty white on the back.

0:23:570:24:00

This is a giveaway that these are not originals.

0:24:000:24:03

So the paper looks brand-new -

0:24:040:24:06

far too bright for something that's supposed to be 30 years old.

0:24:060:24:10

It's not really worth anything, maybe £5 or £10,

0:24:100:24:13

and they've spent hundreds of pounds on acquiring it.

0:24:130:24:15

So it's going to be very disappointing for someone

0:24:150:24:18

who's spent their hard-earned money on a fake.

0:24:180:24:21

It's not an experience Mark would like to repeat.

0:24:210:24:25

It was an expensive mistake, but one that I've learned from,

0:24:250:24:28

and I do not buy that many posters from online sellers now.

0:24:280:24:32

It is... It's a minefield.

0:24:320:24:35

Earlier, we saw just how dangerous

0:24:420:24:44

the practice of faking gas meter readings can be.

0:24:440:24:47

An explosion is a likely consequence of this type of tamper.

0:24:470:24:52

It's not just gas meter readings that are being faked.

0:24:520:24:55

Electricity readings are too.

0:24:550:24:57

It's 9am, again somewhere in the Midlands.

0:24:570:25:01

Western Power Enforcement Officers Gav and Steve

0:25:030:25:06

are responsible for making sure the electricity network is safe.

0:25:060:25:10

They've just received an emergency call-out -

0:25:110:25:14

a tip-off from a member of the public saying that a property

0:25:140:25:17

on their patch may have had its electricity meter interfered with.

0:25:170:25:21

Arriving at the property, they gain access to the meter cupboard,

0:25:210:25:25

and the first signs aren't good.

0:25:250:25:27

The actual meter itself, security seals are missing,

0:25:280:25:32

and then if you look underneath,

0:25:320:25:33

the outgoing live tail, they've dropped it down.

0:25:330:25:37

There's copper showing on it with marks where,

0:25:370:25:40

at some stage, they've had a bypass on it.

0:25:400:25:42

So they probably would have had a wire between the top of the fuse

0:25:420:25:46

to the outgoing tail there to get free electric.

0:25:460:25:50

Steve knows that putting a bridging wire between the supply

0:25:510:25:54

and the meter is one of the most common tampering methods used.

0:25:540:25:59

It means it might only register

0:25:590:26:01

a fraction of the electricity that's being supplied.

0:26:010:26:05

And as Gav safely removes the meter from the wall,

0:26:050:26:08

the risks of the suspected tamper are clear to see.

0:26:080:26:11

With the copper exposed, if anybody touched that there,

0:26:130:26:16

they'd immediately get an electric shock.

0:26:160:26:19

This is very serious indeed.

0:26:200:26:22

Anyone could have got access to the live wires

0:26:220:26:24

in this unsecured cupboard.

0:26:240:26:26

But the man who let them into the property is adamant

0:26:280:26:30

that there's been no tampering,

0:26:300:26:32

and claims he put money on the meter only that morning.

0:26:320:26:35

What's the point in wiring it up if there's credits on it?

0:26:350:26:38

We've been paying for the meter.

0:26:380:26:40

Although there is credit on it now, that meter has been interfered with.

0:26:400:26:43

And we put another £3 on this morning.

0:26:430:26:45

£3 and then another £10.

0:26:450:26:48

You're not listening. At the end of the day, that meter has been interfered with.

0:26:480:26:51

We will come back again within the next six months,

0:26:510:26:55

and if it's been done again, you'll be cut off.

0:26:550:26:58

It's Gav and Steve's job to make the supply safe.

0:26:580:27:02

I'm just replacing the meter.

0:27:030:27:05

Removing the, um...

0:27:070:27:08

..the parts of the tails that have been bypassed.

0:27:110:27:13

So as we can preserve any evidence if needs be.

0:27:150:27:19

It's now up to the supplier to determine

0:27:190:27:21

whether any electricity's been supplied to the house

0:27:210:27:24

but not paid for. The man at the address denies any wrongdoing.

0:27:240:27:27

The police will be informed about what they've found here,

0:27:270:27:30

and may decide to investigate further.

0:27:300:27:33

We can go to sleep tonight, rest assured

0:27:330:27:35

that this house is not going to set on fire

0:27:350:27:37

and there'll be no danger of any children getting an electric shock.

0:27:370:27:40

They've got to this one in the nick of time,

0:27:400:27:43

but Mark Andrews has seen what happens

0:27:430:27:45

when people faking their meter readings are not so fortunate.

0:27:450:27:49

These are all meters that we've found recently.

0:27:490:27:51

The bypass still in place,

0:27:510:27:53

and because the loading of these cables is not sufficient

0:27:530:27:56

to take the current that's going through them,

0:27:560:27:59

they melt, they catch fire.

0:27:590:28:01

You could be asleep at night

0:28:030:28:05

and this could be happening to your meter if you're tampering.

0:28:050:28:08

That's all from Fake Britain. Goodbye.

0:28:130:28:16

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS