0:00:02 > 0:00:07These are ordinary houses in an ordinary street and they could be anywhere in the country,
0:00:07 > 0:00:11but the house I'm in is stuffed with fake goods and your home could be too.
0:00:11 > 0:00:16Welcome to a world where everything isn't quite as it seems.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Welcome to Fake Britain.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Police officers! Stay where you are!
0:00:34 > 0:00:37In this series, I'm going to investigate the world of fakes
0:00:37 > 0:00:39and forgeries and the criminals
0:00:39 > 0:00:43who'll stop at nothing to con you out of your hard-earned cash
0:00:43 > 0:00:46by copying, counterfeiting and cheating.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49I'm going to show you how NOT to become one of their victims.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Today, it's all about fake money.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57Coming up, how scammers are trying to put this fake cash into your pockets.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02The woman who unwittingly took fake dollars to Las Vegas.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07I'd changed 900-worth of counterfeit notes.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11And at Heathrow airport, the efforts of forgers
0:01:11 > 0:01:14who want to flood the UK with their fakes.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20All of this stuff has been used by crooks at some time or another
0:01:20 > 0:01:23to get money out of our bank accounts.
0:01:23 > 0:01:29This is a fake facade from a cashpoint machine and these are phoney credit cards.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33Now, we all know someone who has been affected by bank card fraud.
0:01:33 > 0:01:40Experts say one in four of us will be affected at some time or another, but the police are fighting back.
0:01:44 > 0:01:51It's 6am and DS Finnegan and his officers from the City Of London Police Economic Crime Squad
0:01:51 > 0:01:54are on their way to raid the address of a man
0:01:54 > 0:01:58suspected of making fake credit cards to steal other people's money.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04We're in this area of West London. We know there are credit card gangs involved
0:02:04 > 0:02:10and the money they're making runs into millions rather than thousands.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20With their door-breaking kit at the ready, the team split up.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23DS Finnegan leads some of the officers into the flat
0:02:23 > 0:02:27and he sends the others to watch the exits and windows.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Mind you, the vest is a bit of a giveaway.
0:02:41 > 0:02:48There's no reply at the flat, so DC Whiting gives the signal to break the door down.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Police officers! Stand back!
0:02:57 > 0:03:03A normal door with average security will break after one or two thumps from this heavy enforcer.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05It's a very heavily-fortified door.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08We've not had one like this for some time.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10But we'll get in, don't worry.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14The extreme level of security on this door is designed
0:03:14 > 0:03:20to keep the police out and it's buying whoever is inside valuable time to destroy evidence.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24In a race against the clock, the boys in blue have another weapon -
0:03:24 > 0:03:27a pneumatic door-breaking kit.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31It's called a rabbit, which basically opens the door. It gives you a bit of leverage.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37As the police keep fighting to get in, a call comes over the radio
0:03:37 > 0:03:39that confirms they are in the right place,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43and that the suspect is trying to get rid of incriminating evidence.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48The team downstairs have seen bags stuffed full of credit cards being thrown from the window.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52This detective thinks these cards are unfinished fakes.
0:03:54 > 0:04:00They're prior to being embossed so with that, you've got the hologram.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02You've got the logo.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06You're looking at Visa cards, MasterCards,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10and American Express on the back of those.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12Probably in excess of 100, at very least.
0:04:12 > 0:04:18Apart from the embossing, they're pretty well ready to go.
0:04:19 > 0:04:25As the cards are studied, even more evidence comes raining down from the skies.
0:04:25 > 0:04:31This time, it's a machine, used to write stolen card details on to fake credit cards.
0:04:31 > 0:04:37With the evidence mounting, the team upstairs by the reinforced door know they need to get inside fast.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41It's coming. It's coming.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Later in the programme, we find out exactly what's behind
0:04:47 > 0:04:51one of the strongest doors these officers have ever faced.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02This wallet might not be the most convincing copy of a famous brand,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05but just take a look at what's on the inside.
0:05:06 > 0:05:07That cash is fake.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11We've discovered it all during the making of this programme.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Now, these pound coins are one of the most copied items in Britain.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Police believe they've been made right here in the UK
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and are being palmed off in pubs, clubs, restaurants and shops.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23But just how many are out there?
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Right now, all the pockets in Britain are weighed down
0:05:30 > 0:05:33by over half a million tonnes of loose change.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Most of this comes from the Royal Mint, but millions of the pound coins
0:05:37 > 0:05:42we spend every day are made in illegal factories which churn out fakes.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Robert Matthews lives in South Wales,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52just down the road from where he used to work at the Royal Mint.
0:05:52 > 0:05:58His job there was to test counterfeit coins, and he's now a leading independent expert.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01On this fake, there are a series of parallel grooves
0:06:01 > 0:06:04which wouldn't normally be visible on a genuine coin.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08These are marks left by a counterfeiter.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12There are a number of different clues which tell you whether the thing is a counterfeit or not.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17The main thing that makes me think this is a counterfeit is the edge,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20the lettering is thin and spidery
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and doesn't have the nice form
0:06:23 > 0:06:24of the genuine coin.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30If you look at the other side, the one with the Queen's head on it,
0:06:30 > 0:06:31you can see on the fake coin,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33you can barely make out her crown.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Also, the wording above
0:06:35 > 0:06:38the Queen's head is barely legible.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42This is a problem which has gradually got worse and worse over time.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45The mint and the coin industry, as such,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49hasn't been withdrawing these counterfeits from circulation,
0:06:49 > 0:06:53and that to me is the major problem - the fact that these counterfeit coins
0:06:53 > 0:06:57have been left to circulate and banks are issuing them to individuals.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01So, they're technically committing a crime by issuing them.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Today, I've invited Robert down to the capital.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09He's going to conduct an exclusive survey for Fake Britain, to see how
0:07:09 > 0:07:13many counterfeit pound coins he can find on London's streets.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16The last full survey conducted by the Royal Mint
0:07:16 > 0:07:19found one in 40 pound coins are fake.
0:07:19 > 0:07:25If that figure is right, that means we've got over 37 million fakes in our pockets.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30Still to come on today's Fake Britain...
0:07:30 > 0:07:34How many fakes will Robert find?
0:07:34 > 0:07:38How forgers have a new and almost undetectable way
0:07:38 > 0:07:40of stealing our card details.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45And what happens when you unwittingly gamble with fake dollars in a Las Vegas casino.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47They said, "Will you stand up, please?
0:07:47 > 0:07:50"They were counterfeit, put your hands behind your back,"
0:07:50 > 0:07:52and they put me into handcuffs.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Back in West London, officers from the City of London Police
0:08:02 > 0:08:06are raiding a suspected fake credit card factory.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Their colleagues at ground level have already found hundreds of fake cards
0:08:10 > 0:08:11that were thrown out of the window.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16Inside, these officers have spent nearly 15 minutes
0:08:16 > 0:08:21trying to get through one of the toughest front doors they've ever encountered.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Stand back.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Finally, all their hard work pays off.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34Police officers! Stay where you are!
0:08:34 > 0:08:36The man is caught red-handed, destroying evidence.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41Get down. Stay down there, you. Turn over.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47- Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. - Cuffs, please.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53- We're going to stand you up. - You should have co-operated earlier, mate, shouldn't you?
0:08:55 > 0:08:56come over here.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Sit down.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03If you have a look here, he's in the process of shredding all those cards.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06It took us a good 10-15 minutes to get in.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09He's had 10-15 minutes to shred those cards.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12There's probably hundreds of cards in there.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19The flat and the suspect are secure and the officers can now start a thorough search.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22They're hunting for proceeds of crime
0:09:22 > 0:09:25as well as technical card-forging kit.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Leading the search in the living room is detective Whiting.
0:09:32 > 0:09:38He's found hundreds more cards that avoided the shredder, and weren't thrown out of the window.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41He can tell this card is a counterfeit because
0:09:41 > 0:09:46the embossed printing showing the name and date is overlapping, and the hologram picture doesn't move.
0:09:52 > 0:09:53A counterfeit card.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Detective Whiting's next find is even more important.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00This flat is full of fake cards, but these clever little pieces
0:10:00 > 0:10:04of kit he's just found are called key loggers.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08And they are used to steal card details.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Fraudsters can connect them to the back of credit card terminals in shops and garages,
0:10:12 > 0:10:17and every time you make a payment, they siphon off all your card details
0:10:17 > 0:10:20and save them for a fraudster to use later.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28Each of the key loggers cost just £30, but they can steal over
0:10:28 > 0:10:333,000 credit card numbers each, and Detective Whiting has just found eight of them.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Scientists from the University of Cambridge are leading research
0:10:41 > 0:10:45into the latest techniques criminals have devised to steal our card details.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Using a key logger, like the ones found in the flat, Stephen Murdoch
0:10:49 > 0:10:53is going to show us just how easy this crime is to commit.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56He's using a computer and a password here,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59instead of a chip and PIN machine, but it's the same principle.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03The key logger will easily fit both.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06This thing is our key logger.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11You can buy them easily online. If I take this, and plug it in-between
0:11:11 > 0:11:18the keyboard and the computer, on here we've got a password field. So if I type in the password.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Stephen types, "this is a secret"
0:11:21 > 0:11:24as his password. You can't see it on the screen, but remember
0:11:24 > 0:11:29this could just as easily have been all the details stored on your card.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33All he has to do now is plug the key logger into another computer
0:11:33 > 0:11:37and straight away, he'll be able to read it. It really is that easy.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42You can see the thing that I typed on to the PC.
0:11:42 > 0:11:50So if that was a PIN entry device, rather than a PC, then what we get is all the customer's card details.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Fitting a £30 key logger on to a terminal like this
0:11:55 > 0:11:59can make criminals who know what to do with the data millions of pounds.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06In West London, the officers from the City of London Police believe
0:12:06 > 0:12:12their suspect has been stealing data using key loggers, and making fake cards to live the high life.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15All the credit cards here are fake,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18but the expensive designer goods are the real deal.
0:12:23 > 0:12:29If you look around, you can see Selfridges bags, Louis Vuitton and good high-class items.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It's more likely that the items purchased wouldn't be here,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35but if you've got the cards, if you're going to clothe yourself,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38you're going to clothe yourself in the nicest items.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42For example, this mobile phone is worth £3,000, allegedly.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48It doesn't end there. That watch on his wrist is a genuine Rolex, worth nearly £4,000.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52- There's just no point, is there? - No. Exactly.- Yeah.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57Whilst the other officers seize all the designer goods for evidence,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Detective Whiting is finishing his search in the living room
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and he's just found a disc which contains the last piece of the puzzle.
0:13:06 > 0:13:12To write stolen card details onto the magnetic strip of a fake card, you need a supply of card numbers,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15a laptop and a card-writing machine,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18but you also need this computer programme.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23It allows you to copy your stolen numbers onto these cards.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26It completes the package of what we're looking for.
0:13:26 > 0:13:32The officers have seen enough to prove the man is running a fake credit card operation from the flat.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Now they have to painstakingly sift through all the evidence
0:13:36 > 0:13:41to find out just how much has been stolen using all these cards.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Later in the programme, I find out just how much he managed to steal.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57Just arriving at Paddington Station is fake coin expert Robert Matthews.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01I've invited him to London to conduct an exclusive survey for Fake Britain,
0:14:01 > 0:14:06to see just how many counterfeit coins we've got rattling around in our pockets.
0:14:07 > 0:14:14Official figures from the Royal Mint claim that 2.5% of all the pound coins in Britain could be fakes.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19That's one in 40, but Robert believes the real figure could be much higher.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Yeah, that one is.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33- That's directly from the bank?- Yeah.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Robert is conducting his survey in a market,
0:14:36 > 0:14:41as they are popular places for people to spend loose change.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44There should be loads of pound coins for him to check here.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55There's one. That's a counterfeit, there.
0:14:55 > 0:15:02The pound coin from a butcher shop has a flaw that can easily tell you it's a dud.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Hold the coin between your thumb and finger and line the Queen,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10so it's vertically downwards, and twirl the coin around.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16With the genuine coin, the design will be facing downwards and upwards,
0:15:16 > 0:15:21as well, but in the counterfeit, it's slanted to one side.
0:15:21 > 0:15:29The Royal Mint recently did a survey of around 15,000 pound coins, which showed that one in 40 were fakes.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34That works out at an astonishing 37 million fakes nationwide.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41In today's survey, Robert has checked 194 pound coins.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44If the Royal Mint's one in 40 claim is accurate,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49he should only have found four, or at the most, five, counterfeits in the market.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52How many coins did you find?
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Seven, Dom, in under two hours.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Does it surprise you?
0:15:57 > 0:16:00I was disappointed to find so many, quite honestly.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03From these figures from the market that we found,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06we're talking about 47m nationally.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08- Of fake coins?- Of fake coins.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12How often do you ever see one of these in your own pocket?
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Everybody who handles cash at all, coins at all,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19will have had fake coins in their possession.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21There's that many out there?
0:16:21 > 0:16:26- Yes.- If people find these in their pocket, what should they do and what do you think they will do?
0:16:26 > 0:16:32The official answer would be that you take it to the police station and declare it, but the reality is the
0:16:32 > 0:16:38police are not interested in individual coins and the reality is people just pass them on.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42- I don't blame them quite honestly. - How long have people been forging these for?
0:16:42 > 0:16:50This present crisis, and I like to call it a crisis, has probably been happening since the mid-1990s.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53What's the worst cast scenario? What could something like this do?
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Well, if we were to follow what happened in South Africa.
0:16:56 > 0:17:02There, all the small businesses were refusing to accept their coin,
0:17:02 > 0:17:07- so they had to withdraw it and recoin the coin. - Costing the economy billions?
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Costing a significant amount of money, yeah.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14- Robert, thanks ever so much for your time.- Thank you. - Here's your bus fare home!
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Still to come on Fake Britain.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24At Heathrow, officers find what they believe are counterfeit travellers' cheques.
0:17:24 > 0:17:31And what happens when you unwittingly spend fake dollars in a Las Vegas casino?
0:17:39 > 0:17:45Back in West London, the credit card forger, who we know know to be 27-year-old Eamon Zada,
0:17:45 > 0:17:50is being led away to a City of London police station to await his fate.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55This raid highlights just how serious credit card forgery is.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59By the time this case went to court, the detectives had proved
0:17:59 > 0:18:04that an astonishing £1.6m of stolen money had been spent
0:18:04 > 0:18:08on just one third of the fake credit cards found in the flat.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15In his summing up, the judge called the place a "fake credit card finishing factory."
0:18:15 > 0:18:21Mr Zada eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.
0:18:21 > 0:18:27The methods for stealing your card details are getting more and more hi-tech.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30We've seen how fraudsters use key loggers at tills,
0:18:30 > 0:18:35but crooks have a new, terrifying and almost undetectable way
0:18:35 > 0:18:39of stealing our card details during an otherwise completely normal purchase.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45We use them every day, but imagine what would happen if one of the factories
0:18:45 > 0:18:50where these credit card terminals are made was infiltrated by fraudsters?
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Stephen Murdoch has been analysing credit card terminals and researching
0:18:57 > 0:19:03the most up to date methods criminals are using to fake your cards and steal your cash.
0:19:05 > 0:19:13The criminals are putting far more resources into attacking these than we can and what we've now seen
0:19:13 > 0:19:20is that these things are coming out of the factory with tapping devices installed on them at the factory.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25So there's no way for even the customers or the staff to be able to spot what's going on.
0:19:25 > 0:19:31What that tapping device does is record these details and it has a mobile phone too, and then they send
0:19:31 > 0:19:38these details over to Pakistan and the details are written on to cards and used all over the Middle East.
0:19:38 > 0:19:44So the criminal doesn't even need to come over to the UK in order to commit fraud.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46It's really an international industry.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52Compromised terminals like these have been found in two major UK supermarkets already
0:19:52 > 0:19:57and, frighteningly, at the moment the criminals seem to be one step ahead.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02There's really no way for a customer to tell what they're typing their PIN into.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Just because it looks like a chip and PIN terminal, doesn't mean it is one.
0:20:23 > 0:20:29With 1701 licensed gambling venues, Las Vegas is the world's casino capital.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34It's also a regular holiday location for Gail Chandler from Kent.
0:20:34 > 0:20:40Last year, the odds stacked against her when she discovered that her travel money was fake.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46I love Las Vegas. I love the over-the-topness, I love the slot machines.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48The roulette wheel.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52I just think Vegas is dreamland for adults, really.
0:20:58 > 0:21:04I decided to go in about June of last year and, as usual, I shopped around for my currency.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Thompson were quite a good rate.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13So I ordered quite a few thousand dollars and off I went, happily on my adventure to Vegas.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16When I'm in Vegas I do the same thing.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20I can't wait to get on to the casino floor. That's what I go for.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22I like the excitement.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24I rush down to find my favourite machine
0:21:24 > 0:21:29and sit there happily gambling on the machine for hours and hours.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34Gail had been enjoying her holiday and was rapidly gambling through her bundle of cash.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Towards the end of the week, she dipped into her Thompson's travel money wallet
0:21:38 > 0:21:43for some brand-new 100 bills which she had saved until last.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47I put one of them into the fruit machine
0:21:47 > 0:21:49and unfortunately it threw it out.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53So I changed quite a few of them with the floor walkers
0:21:53 > 0:21:58and they didn't say anything to me that there was a problem with them, just changed them up for the 20s.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03I sat down at the machine that I had been playing the day before, I put 20 in
0:22:03 > 0:22:10and by the time I pushed the button a two or three times the security guard came up to me
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and just stood there and said, "Hello," and I said, "Hello,"
0:22:13 > 0:22:20and carried on playing the machine, and then four others turned up and I thought, "This is strange."
0:22:20 > 0:22:22They can't all be watching me play the machine.
0:22:22 > 0:22:29So I looked round and one of them said to me, "Have you just changed 100 bill?" I said, "Yes, I have."
0:22:29 > 0:22:33They said, "Was you in here yesterday changing 100 bills?" And I said,
0:22:33 > 0:22:38"Yes, I was." They said, "Would you stand up, please? They were counterfeit.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41"Put your hands behind your back." And they put me into handcuffs.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Still to come on Fake Britain...
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Find out just how serious things get for Gail.
0:22:54 > 0:23:00Counterfeiting is an international crime and at Heathrow Airport officers from the UK Border Agency
0:23:00 > 0:23:06form a thin blue line against the efforts of forgers who want to flood the UK with their fakes.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15Russel Webb has the power to intercept mail coming in from abroad and check it for fakes.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19For him, finding counterfeit money is all in a day's work.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23This morning, he's searching through a shipment of parcels from West Africa,
0:23:23 > 0:23:25when something catches his eye.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Inside the envelope is that package.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32When they opened it, it contains...
0:23:34 > 0:23:37These are Euro traveller's cheques.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40There's 50...
0:23:42 > 0:23:44..traveller's cheques there.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48They're all worth 500 euros.
0:23:48 > 0:23:54Again, these could be stolen or forged, but that's a police matter.
0:23:54 > 0:24:00In total there's approximately 50,000 Euros there worth of traveller's cheques.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Even though Russel and his team see a lot of fake money in their line of work,
0:24:03 > 0:24:08finding this much at once is an impressive haul.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13Yes, that is quite unusual to see that amount of financial documents.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18Traveller's cheques are just as valuable to counterfeiters as real money.
0:24:18 > 0:24:24These suspected fakes have been given to a financial expert and the police's enquiries are continuing.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38When we last saw Gail Chandler, she was in handcuffs in a Las Vegas casino.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43She had been caught unwittingly gambling with counterfeit 100 bills.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45I did hear them say that the previous day
0:24:45 > 0:24:51that I had actually changed up 900-worth of counterfeit notes.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Gail was then led away.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Through the casino floor, where all the hundreds of people were standing watching me,
0:24:58 > 0:25:03through to the back of the casino, down the stairs, into the bowels and put me in an interview room.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07I was so frightened I couldn't even tell them what my name was.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11My heart was thumping in my chest.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13It was just the most awful,
0:25:13 > 0:25:18embarrassing and humiliating experience and really traumatic.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21And then the guy from the Secret Service came.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25He found it difficult to believe that I was actually there on my own
0:25:25 > 0:25:28and he asked if he could search my room.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Anywhere where they thought, I suppose, I might be hiding money.
0:25:33 > 0:25:40Gail's questioning lasted over five hours and her hotel room was turned upside down by the Secret Service.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45Throughout this time, Gail had been constantly protesting her innocence.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Eventually, he did say to me that providing I had been honest,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53I would probably hear nothing else from them.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59But he said, "You will be on the records of the Secret Service for having been interviewed."
0:25:59 > 0:26:03After her ordeal, the casino took pity on Gail
0:26:03 > 0:26:07and didn't ask her to pay them back a real 1,000
0:26:07 > 0:26:10in exchange for the fake 1,000 she had already changed there.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14They could see that I'd got history in the place,
0:26:14 > 0:26:18and I had never had a problem before. I'm sure that worked in my favour.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23We contacted Thomson's and told them that Gail was convinced
0:26:23 > 0:26:26she had received fake notes from their store in Gillingham.
0:26:26 > 0:26:27They said...
0:26:44 > 0:26:51I just think the flippant way they fobbed me off was not acceptable.
0:26:51 > 0:26:57There was no doubt in my mind that those were the notes that came from Thompson.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00They were safely tucked away in my suitcase.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03There was absolutely no way that anybody would have,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07could have, got into it and I knew anyway, when I went,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11before I went, that there was these new notes in there,
0:27:11 > 0:27:16so there was no doubt in my mind at all as to where that money came from.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21I went back to Vegas as soon as I could.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25I wanted to get the first visit under my belt, because I wasn't sure that
0:27:25 > 0:27:28they would actually physically let me in the country,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31but fortunately, I didn't have a problem at all.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36Just went straight through and on my way, and I've not had a problem since.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Next time on Fake Britain, I'll be looking at four-wheel fakery.
0:27:46 > 0:27:52How criminals are stealing cars, changing their identity, and selling them on to unsuspecting buyers.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55"We're going to have to take it away for tests,
0:27:55 > 0:28:02"but you can guarantee that it's a vehicle that's been stolen and cloned."
0:28:02 > 0:28:06And that was the worst news that they could give me.
0:28:06 > 0:28:13And how fake service histories bought online are masking lethal faults in some vehicles.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16If you drove that car, your children would be dead.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18You'd probably think they were asleep.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20They'd be dead. Fumes are going straight into the car.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25I don't know about you, but I'm going to be a little bit more careful with this in the future.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Well, that's it for today from Fake Britain, so, goodbye.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:53 > 0:28:56E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk