0:00:02 > 0:00:07Welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it seems.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Welcome to Fake Britain.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12- Police!- Police officer! Stay where you are!
0:00:25 > 0:00:28In this series, I'm going to be investigating
0:00:28 > 0:00:31the world of the criminals who make their money at your expense,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34and I'm going to be showing YOU how not to get ripped off.
0:00:34 > 0:00:40Coming up, we find out the shocking truth about fake electrical cables...
0:00:40 > 0:00:44This fake cable is going to put lives at risk if there was a fire.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49..how mass-produced art from China is being sold as the real deal...
0:00:49 > 0:00:52I now know it was a complete fake. It's virtually brand new,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55and a lot more of these are appearing.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00..and how a stolen identity turned a dream wedding anniversary into a nightmare.
0:01:00 > 0:01:06At this point, they're putting me in handcuffs and taking me off to a cell for the night.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15The UK has one of the highest electrical safety standards in the world,
0:01:15 > 0:01:20and with millions of miles of cabling fitted to our businesses, hospitals, schools and our homes,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22it needs to be.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26So you may be as shocked as me to discover that even THIS stuff has been faked.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30And who knows, it could be fitted to a fuse box near you.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Electrical cables come in all shapes and sizes,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38and we take it for granted that they do what they say they do.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44In this warehouse, there are one million metres of cable that have been seized
0:01:44 > 0:01:49from all over the UK, and ALL of it is suspected to be fake.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58In just nine months, 20 million metres of suspected fake cable
0:01:58 > 0:02:01has been removed from the supply chain -
0:02:01 > 0:02:05that's 20 times this amount, so the problem is huge.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08In fact, it's so big that the Approved Cables Initiative
0:02:08 > 0:02:11has been set up to tackle the fakers.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Of course, we can name and shame,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17and the Approved Cables Initiative
0:02:17 > 0:02:20has been set up to target this sort of problem.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25It's thought that one in five electrical cables in the UK is fake,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29from potentially dangerous substandard ones to outright fakes
0:02:29 > 0:02:30that will never work at all.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33All of them are dangerous.
0:02:33 > 0:02:3620% of ALL fires are caused by electrical fires,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and electrical fires, of that,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41quite a lot of that is attributed to wire and cable fault.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43There's nothing worse than a counterfeit cable.
0:02:43 > 0:02:44It could cause a fire.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49But that fire could be anywhere, it could be in a void, in a duct,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51it could be under the stairs or behind a wall.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56These are pictures of the damage caused by electrical fires.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59No-one knows how many have been caused by fake cables,
0:02:59 > 0:03:04but with 20 million metres of the stuff coming into the country,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07many experts believe the fakes are responsible for a lot of them.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10This is supposed to be a fire-resistant cable.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15It's counterfeit, and has been proven to be counterfeit.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19On the cable itself, it does say "British made", but we know it's not.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22So we took it to a specialist testing facility
0:03:22 > 0:03:25to see if it would set alarm bells ringing.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29This is typically used for fire alarms, emergency lighting,
0:03:29 > 0:03:31so this powers the system.
0:03:31 > 0:03:37And it's supposed to continue to operate in the fire for up to three hours,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40so whilst the cable is burning, it carries on operating.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45The emergency lights have to be there so that people can see their way to escape routes,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49and also for the fire-fighting services when they arrive,
0:03:49 > 0:03:54so continued operation in a fire is vital for these types of cables.
0:03:54 > 0:04:00The materials you make the cable with are critical, really, to achieve that fire performance.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Almost all the cables produced in the UK have to be marked on the outside.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07If it's marked on the outside, your assumption is that manufacturer is telling you
0:04:07 > 0:04:10that the product complies with that standard.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Doug shows us how they test the cable's performance in a controlled fire.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19This is one of the standard fire tests that we use to check the cable.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22It's a simple gas burner, and the cable will sit in the rings above the burner,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26and it will be connected to an electrical circuit
0:04:26 > 0:04:29connected to the lights behind us.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32And we simply put the burner on, the cable will sit there.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37For the average person, they won't know the difference between these two cables.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39They look pretty much the same.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44The only way to find out that it's not any good is by doing tests like this.
0:04:44 > 0:04:45Like the fire test.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02So, the materials of the good cable in a fire won't give off a lot of smoke.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06As you can see here, the outer jacket of the cable has swelled up
0:05:06 > 0:05:10and is protecting the inside of the cable,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and you can see there is very little fumes coming off it.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Next up is the counterfeit one.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18The fake cable is made of PVC.
0:05:18 > 0:05:24That will give off lots of smoke and you will see it burning quite a lot.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28The smoke is toxic,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32and so that's going to hamper people escaping anyway.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36And the material doesn't protect the inside and it fails very quickly.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40The camera crew weren't allowed to stay in the chamber
0:05:40 > 0:05:42because of the toxic fumes given off in seconds.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46The circuit is broken and the emergency lights go out.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48With no alarm or lights working,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52it would be almost impossible to escape in time.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55So, for all sorts of reasons, this is going to be a risk in a fire,
0:05:55 > 0:06:02and these are used in hospitals, schools, shopping centres, offices,
0:06:02 > 0:06:08so throughout Britain, this cable is there for safety in case of fire.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11And this fake cable is going to put people's lives at risk.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15The real cable is designed to stay intact for three hours
0:06:15 > 0:06:19in burning flames, but the fake fails in less than two minutes.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22By the time people realise there's a fire,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25it's probably too late because of the toxic smoke.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29As if that wasn't bad enough, the rising price of copper
0:06:29 > 0:06:32has tempted even more people to make fakes.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36Copper is the main component of electrical cables as it carries the current.
0:06:36 > 0:06:42The soaring price of it means it takes one bright spark to skimp on the amount they put in a cable
0:06:42 > 0:06:46for there to be deadly consequences.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49This is piece of flexible cable. It's widely used all around the house.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Kettle leads, extension leads...
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Of recent years, copper has become very expensive.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58It's gone from £2,000 per tonne to £5,000 per tonne,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01so it's created a situation where people are tempted
0:07:01 > 0:07:04to scrimp on the amount of copper.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09We've found quite a lot of products in the market place where the amount of copper in the cable isn't enough,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13sometimes by a small amount, but sometimes by significant amounts.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16The cable is marked with the correct size
0:07:16 > 0:07:19but the actual amount of copper doesn't comply with that.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23This is a very simple test that just looks at the amount of copper
0:07:23 > 0:07:27by measuring the resistance of the copper conductor.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31The resistance of this size of cable should not be more than 13.3,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34but in this case, we'll see a much larger number
0:07:34 > 0:07:37because there's a lot less copper in it than there should be.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55The resistance should be 13.3, but in this case it's 21.1,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57so it could overheat and cause a fire.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01So these cables are just as dangerous as the fake fire cable.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Once they find the fakes,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08the industry needs to make sure they don't put anyone's lives at risk.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12All the fake cable found across the whole of the UK must be destroyed.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17It is unravelled and shredded, and the valuable copper and steel
0:08:17 > 0:08:21is separated from the rest, and recycled to make new and safe cable.
0:08:27 > 0:08:34Coming up - the extraordinary story of what can happen when somebody fakes your identity.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38I then got shoved in a cell with - not to put too fine a point on it -
0:08:38 > 0:08:40seven drug traffickers.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Fake cigarettes like these are flooding into the UK.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52The tobacco industry estimates that, astonishingly,
0:08:52 > 0:08:57one in six cigarettes smoked in this country is fake or smuggled.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01It is huge business, and as I've discovered, even at the local neighbourhood level,
0:09:01 > 0:09:06the amount of fake cigarettes and the criminal cash involved is jaw-dropping.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13The problem of fake cigarettes is huge, losing the government
0:09:13 > 0:09:15hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue every year.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20That's money that could be spent on your local hospital or schools.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Police and Trading Standards in the West Midlands are cracking down on the problem.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Because their officers operate undercover,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29we're protecting their identities.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33We've been targeting the main supplier of cigarettes, which is a retail premises.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40We've done numerous seizures over the last couple of years.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Nothing deters them from selling cigarettes.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47They're re-supplying the consumers within 24 hours of us
0:09:47 > 0:09:50seizing all the cigarettes from their shop.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54So they're changing tactics. Today, they are going for the source of the problem -
0:09:54 > 0:09:59the person who they believe is directly supplying the shops with fake cigarettes.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03The owner of the house doesn't know that he has been watched
0:10:03 > 0:10:08for the past few months and the team are hoping to catch him unawares.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Hello. Can you let us in, please? Police and Trading Standards.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Can you stay there, please? We want to come with you.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16The police accompany the suspect upstairs
0:10:16 > 0:10:19so that he can't destroy any evidence.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22They are convinced there are fake cigarettes here
0:10:22 > 0:10:24and they start a painstaking search.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28They're even looking in the most unlikely places.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Sometimes they have all sorts of hidden cash,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35hidden behind the bath.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Out the back they find a locked garage
0:10:37 > 0:10:40which could be the key to where the fake cigarettes are stored.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42It'll be easier if we get this open.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Meanwhile, the team upstairs bring in the specialist search dogs,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48trained to sniff out tobacco.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50What's this?
0:10:50 > 0:10:54In another room, the officers are looking for cash and invoices
0:10:54 > 0:10:59to prove that the suspect's been operating a business from here.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03What I want to do is seize these because it's written in their language.
0:11:03 > 0:11:08It looks like orders of cigarettes, but we can get that analysed
0:11:08 > 0:11:10and checked, so we'll seize those.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12As the resident is on benefits,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15it's suspicious to find a large roll of cash.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20We've also got in here a quantity of cash
0:11:20 > 0:11:23which will be counted
0:11:23 > 0:11:27and will go with the other cash we've found in this bedroom.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Suddenly there's a call from downstairs.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Bingo. It's all in a lock-up in a secure garden.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38I think every box here has got something. Look at this.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41What have we got, mate? Oh, my goodness! Look at all these bags.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46The officers find bags and bags of illegal cigarettes and tobacco.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Thousands.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52They find almost half a million fakes in the garage.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57It's one of the biggest seizures of fake cigarettes, ever, in the Midlands.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Get them filmed, photographed. We'll get our gloves on
0:12:00 > 0:12:02and we'll bag and seal.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06The items are thought to be either fake or may have been smuggled
0:12:06 > 0:12:08into the country illegally to avoid paying duty.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12Britain has the most expensive cigarettes in Europe,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14so as the price of cigarettes grows,
0:12:14 > 0:12:20so does the trade in fakes, and it's a particular problem for this area.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22It's fairly widespread because of the demographics.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26People struggle paying full prices for things,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28so there's a ready market there for people supplying
0:12:28 > 0:12:31these cigarettes, which are up to half price
0:12:31 > 0:12:34for what you'd pay normally, retail.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37So demand is there and they're taking advantage of that.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40You used to be able to spot fake cigarettes by the dodgy packaging.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45But now they can be so sophisticated that you'd never be able to tell.
0:12:45 > 0:12:51Well, it's nice to see that even counterfeit cigarettes have the Government health advice on them!
0:12:51 > 0:12:54They're clearly smuggled,
0:12:54 > 0:13:00probably counterfeit as well. That's a Benelux tax stamp, which means that, in theory,
0:13:00 > 0:13:06it's trying to purport to show tax has been paid from Benelux countries,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10but I would be 90% certain that it's all counterfeit.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Fake cigarettes are illegal.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Not only do criminal gangs steal millions of pounds
0:13:15 > 0:13:18from the taxpayer's purse in lost revenue,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22but fakes have also been found to contain high levels of tar and nicotine,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24as well as huge amounts of lead,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27and even arsenic, which can cause cancer.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Outside, the team have finished searching the lock-up
0:13:30 > 0:13:35and have found a vast haul of fake cigarettes and rolling tobacco.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39They believe all of it was destined to supply the local shops with illegal stocks.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Excellent result. We'd put a lot of hard work into
0:13:42 > 0:13:45trying to ascertain what's going on with these suppliers,
0:13:45 > 0:13:50so to have a seizure like this is fantastic. The guys estimate there's about half a million here,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54with street value of about £200,000.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56So it's been a big impact on what's happening
0:13:56 > 0:13:58and is exactly the result we were looking for.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02Fake cigarettes are a big business run by criminal gangs,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05and the penalties for supplying illegal tobacco
0:14:05 > 0:14:07can be up to ten years in jail.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10We use all sorts of techniques, in various ways,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14to identity who is involved, where the supplies are coming from
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and how they're networked and operating.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20And we'll just progress that and, obviously, today we'll learn
0:14:20 > 0:14:22a lot more as well from what we seized
0:14:22 > 0:14:24and the people involved and so on.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26It's been a successful raid,
0:14:26 > 0:14:31the result of months of undercover work to crack down on those breaking the law
0:14:31 > 0:14:35and to stub out the trade in fake cigarettes.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Whether it's fine art, a valuable antique
0:14:42 > 0:14:45or just general boot-sale bric-a-brac,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48owning or collecting something beautiful appeals to a lot of us.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Add in our enthusiasm for a bargain and, all of a sudden,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55you can see why the world of the collectable is appealing to the conman.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00And I'm going to show you why this painting isn't what its new owner thought it was.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Fake art is big business, and with a never-ending supply of customers,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07that business is booming.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09A collection of watercolours...
0:15:09 > 0:15:15Auction houses like this one in west London sell thousands of genuine antiques a month.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19But with a whole new generation of keen art collectors,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22the crooks know they can reel you in
0:15:22 > 0:15:26if you don't know your Leonardo da Vinci from your DiCaprio.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30There's hundreds of reputable dealers at antique fairs.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33There's one in 500 a bit dodgy.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37You'll never beat experience. People coming in for the first time,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41they're looking for things online. We didn't have Google years ago.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44They think they know more than they know.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Stephen Large found out the hard way.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Fairly new on the art scene, he has an eye for a bargain...
0:15:50 > 0:15:52or so he thought.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55I'd been collecting art for a while and, as you can see,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I've got different types, different eras, different periods.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01I'd like to say that I know what I'm looking for
0:16:01 > 0:16:05but the more you look, there's so much art around,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09and the greater choice you have, the less you know, I think you realise.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Browsing for a bargain, he spotted what he thought
0:16:13 > 0:16:16was an original 19th-century oil painting.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18I went to an antique fair, looking around,
0:16:18 > 0:16:23and I wanted to get something I was going to keep as an investment.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26So I was browsing around. So when I saw this painting,
0:16:26 > 0:16:31I was struck by the colour and size, and the frame was fantastic,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34and I thought, "OK, don't declare your interest straightaway.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37"Just take a note of that, walk around and come back,"
0:16:37 > 0:16:40and I kept on doing that, and going back,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44and of course the dealer then realised the bait had been taken.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47And I went back and I enquired about it,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50and the closer I got, the more impressed I was.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I thought, "This is extremely well created."
0:16:53 > 0:16:59I would like to have looked through a magnifying glass, however, the dealer didn't have one available,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02so I just had to use my squinty eyes.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05He thought the painting was worth £2,000,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08so he'd be getting an ideal investment.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10He was asking for £1,200,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14said there was some negotiation in that. Having been in sales for many, many years,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17I eventually ended up buying it for £850.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21At the time, I was delighted to have negotiated so much off.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26But little did Stephen know that he actually got less than he bargained for.
0:17:26 > 0:17:33And then a very good friend of mine, Tom Keane, who is in the auction business, he came round.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38I'd been dying to show him, and he said it's fake, no doubt about it.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42So there was no glossing over it, the painting was fake.
0:17:42 > 0:17:48But there are some tricks of the trade that would have told Stephen that straightaway.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51He took it to Chiswick Auction Rooms to nail down exactly
0:17:51 > 0:17:53how you tell that a piece of art is fake.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Stephen, I'm going to prove to you the reason why I knew
0:17:56 > 0:18:01this is a very good decorative art painting, or even a fake.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05This canvas isn't the right thickness for a 19th-century canvas.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09If you've got 18th- or 19th-century canvas, it'll feel thicker, a bit more quality.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13These are mass-produced for the decorative market, not for the antique market.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16These paintings are mass-produced in China
0:18:16 > 0:18:19and are turning up in antique fairs around the UK.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23They're being sold as antiques rather than what they really are -
0:18:23 > 0:18:25brand spanking new.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30The Chinese cleverly pick an English or European name and sign them.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33We see it all the time so it's not rocket science for me.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37You bought a decorative piece worth £200 or £300 for £850, thinking it's the real thing,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40and R Bernard doesn't exist.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Chinese factories churn out these copies,
0:18:43 > 0:18:48often producing the same unique masterpiece every single day.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53The only person who's misled you, really, is the dealer who sold it to you.
0:18:53 > 0:18:59He should have been a bit more open and honest and told you, "It's a copy," or whatever it is.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Now, what you've got to look for...
0:19:01 > 0:19:04apart from the lovely painting on the front, look at the back.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Yes, I did think it had been relined, but I was obviously wrong.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Yeah, relined. But again, look at the top seam here.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17You can see the over-covering - there's no age at all, a bit of stain put in there.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19It could have been a new frame on an old painting.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21It's very, very deceiving.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26Now, this is exactly the same. They are mass-produced in China for hotels and pubs.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Nothing wrong, whatsoever. It's how you sell them that's the problem.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32But what about that lovely gilded frame?
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Well, it's not surprising that that was a fake too.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40- You'll find that's plastic resin. Break it yourself.- Oh, yes.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Plastic resin. You can't do that in an antique fair.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46That frame is the same construction as this frame.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51With the frame, you can't tell. It's so good you can't tell.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55You need another one next to it, a real one, to be feeling it and comparing it.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56It feels lighter in the touch.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Had you paid £200 or £300, I'd have said
0:19:59 > 0:20:02you haven't been ripped off, you've got a nice work of art,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05but it's never going to be an investment. It is what it is.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08But at £850, he'd been ripped off.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12The mass-produced fake art from China isn't just paintings.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15It's ceramics as well, bits of jade.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18It can be a problem. It's how you buy it, how it's sold.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21I mean, some people set out to mislead people.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24It's more valuable than what it is,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27as in Stephen's case where he paid £850 for a painting
0:20:27 > 0:20:31that, if he was right, was worth £2,000. He was misled.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34If you're buying it as a decorative piece of art at £200 or £300,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37the sort of value it would make anyway, not a problem.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40But it's the people behind the selling, that's the problem.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44New things to the market can mislead even experts like us.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48There are very good fakers, and if you're paying £30 or £40 for something
0:20:48 > 0:20:51which you think is worth £2,000 or £3,000 - why is it £30 or £40?
0:20:51 > 0:20:54You may be lucky, but often, you're getting ripped off.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59So £600 out of pocket, Stephen has learnt his lesson.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02It's brand new, and a lot more of these are appearing.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03I now know it's a complete fake.
0:21:09 > 0:21:15This is the most secure form of proof that you are who you say you are - your passport.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17But this next story is a real eye-opener,
0:21:17 > 0:21:23because it shows you just what can happen when a fraudster comes between you and this.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26'It was their 10th wedding anniversary,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30'and Tanya and Chris booked a romantic weekend away in Lisbon.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36'But any thoughts of beaches, cocktails and romance stopped short when they got to passport control.'
0:21:36 > 0:21:40We got about five metres beyond the control desk
0:21:40 > 0:21:43and the immigration officer said, "Hold on a second, sir.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45"There's a problem with your passport."
0:21:45 > 0:21:51After an hour or so, and I'm pacing around obviously feeling a bit hacked off, to say the least,
0:21:51 > 0:21:57one of the immigration officers comes in and says to me, "Have you ever been in trouble in Germany?"
0:21:57 > 0:22:02I was like, no, but have I done something wrong in Germany in the past? I don't think so!
0:22:02 > 0:22:06'And she said, "When was the last time you were in Germany?" And I racked my brains,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09'and I'd been there maybe ten years ago on a business trip.'
0:22:09 > 0:22:14So I started saying to them very early on, there's a problem here, you have the wrong person.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16I don't know what's happening, but this is wrong.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20'Every time there were footsteps in the corridor,'
0:22:20 > 0:22:24I was thinking it was someone coming to say, "Right, time to go, sorry about that."
0:22:24 > 0:22:29'One of the guys said to me, "Oh, by the way, you're going to be extradited to Germany, to Stuttgart,"
0:22:29 > 0:22:35and I was like, OK, so first of all I'm taking on the first bit, I'm kind of incarcerated now,
0:22:35 > 0:22:40but the idea of being extradited to Germany as well felt an extra layer of terror, to be quite frank.
0:22:40 > 0:22:47We had no idea of the charge, no idea whatsoever why he should be facing extradition to Germany,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and no idea why there'd potentially be this muddle.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54All I knew was that I was now going to be definitely put in a prison.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59It just seemed so unbelievable that this situation could happen.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04You start to rack your brains to think, what possibly could put you in the situation
0:23:04 > 0:23:08where they're detaining him and taking him to prison?
0:23:08 > 0:23:12At that point I was thinking, right, this really is really bad.
0:23:12 > 0:23:19This is proper prison, and proper prison as in we get let out into the yard.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22'And you think, I'm doing that thing that you see in films
0:23:22 > 0:23:25'when you're walking around a yard trying to look tough,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28'but internally, obviously, not feeling quite so...'
0:23:28 > 0:23:30..quite so strong, shall we say?
0:23:30 > 0:23:36That really was, you know, that was a prison in the proper sense of the word.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41Inmates banging doors, I got strip searched, which was a new one to me, as well,
0:23:41 > 0:23:48and then got shoved in a cell with, not to put too fine a point on it, seven drug traffickers.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52'After a sleepless night and a weekend in prison looming for Chris,
0:23:52 > 0:23:58'Tanya hired the best lawyer she could find and they went to court on Saturday morning.'
0:23:58 > 0:24:01I was cuffed from the cell to court.
0:24:01 > 0:24:07Met the lawyer, one of the lawyers there, who told me to be very clear
0:24:07 > 0:24:11and state my case very clearly that I was innocent,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15that I was a family man, that I was here for a weekend break,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19and yet again I'd done nothing wrong and that there must be some sort of problem.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22'At last they heard what Chris was charged with,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25'but they both knew he was innocent.'
0:24:25 > 0:24:28It was a charge of computer fraud that took place in Germany,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32and therefore he was facing extradition to Germany to face charges of that.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37Somebody was an accomplice in a crime to defraud Hewlett Packard,
0:24:37 > 0:24:42and I think it was about 150,000 euros that they defrauded them from.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47The judge didn't really appear to take much notice of what I was actually saying,
0:24:47 > 0:24:53and pretty quickly it was evident that I was going to be going back to a jail.
0:24:53 > 0:24:59'Tanya knew her husband could not have committed this crime, and it must have been somebody else,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02'and she finally saw evidence that proved it.'
0:25:02 > 0:25:06As soon as Chris was taken away, we actually got to see the paperwork,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08the clerk brought us the actual paperwork.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12And that is the point at which we saw that the person they were looking for,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16under the description, said, "Negroid, black hair, brown eyes."
0:25:16 > 0:25:19'Our lawyer went straight back in there to the judge to say,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22'this is absolutely ridiculous,'
0:25:22 > 0:25:25you've got a description of the person you're seeking
0:25:25 > 0:25:27that doesn't match the person you're holding,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29and on that basis alone you should allow him to go.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33'Knowing for sure that Chris was completely innocent,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37'the penny finally dropped as to how all this was possible.'
0:25:37 > 0:25:41He'd had his passport stolen ten years ago when he was on his stag do in Amsterdam.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46We'd travelled abroad almost every year since then and there's been no problem whatsoever,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50so it was literally ten years later that it came back to bite me.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55'A fake Chris had used his passport to set up a fake ID
0:25:55 > 0:25:58'and carried out a fraud on a major company.
0:25:58 > 0:26:04'These are the horrific consequences of just one of the 60,000 British passports
0:26:04 > 0:26:07'that are lost or stolen abroad every year,
0:26:07 > 0:26:12'which could mean a fair few Brits might find themselves in Chris's position.'
0:26:13 > 0:26:18What happened with Chris's passport, it was used in 2000 to set up an identity,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22which allowed this individual to set up an identity in Chris's name,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25to get a residency permit, to open bank accounts and such.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28'Chris spent the weekend stuck in jail,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31'unaware that his wife was unravelling the mystery.'
0:26:31 > 0:26:37I'm hammering on the door of the holding cell demanding to find out what's going on.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40And I was running around crazily trying to deal with this,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44to get written evidence of his stolen passport,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47because we had to get hold of as much evidence as possible
0:26:47 > 0:26:50that demonstrated that somebody had taken his identity.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54What we wanted was a photo ID just to say, this is the person they're seeking,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56and this is Chris, so there's no similarity.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00But the clerk had said to our lawyer that the documentation had arrived
0:27:00 > 0:27:02and that it was clear it wasn't Chris.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09It felt like nobody really cared that there was quite a serious miscarriage of justice going on,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13and that you should be doing everything in your power to get him out of custody,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15given that he hasn't done anything wrong.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18'On Monday morning, after three whole days in prison,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22'Chris was finally brought before the court.'
0:27:22 > 0:27:27So I went into the court, the judge had a very quick look
0:27:27 > 0:27:30through the dossier which Tanya had amassed over the weekend,
0:27:30 > 0:27:38a huge dossier, and he apologised, said, "I'm very sorry, this has been a big mistake,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43"and we hope you don't think it reflects badly on Portugal or the Portuguese people,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45"and we hope you'd come back again."
0:27:46 > 0:27:50It was literally, leave the court room, jump into the taxi,
0:27:50 > 0:27:56taxi to airport, and we got on to the flight with a minute, without exaggeration, to spare.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59We were running, actually, we had to run to get on to the flight in the end.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04And then when we got on the plane, that was that moment of,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07"Ah! Thank God. Where's the drinks trolley?!"
0:28:07 > 0:28:09THEY LAUGH
0:28:09 > 0:28:11'It's happy ever after for them,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13'but the fakers are still out there,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17'and they could be pretending to be you.'
0:28:22 > 0:28:26That's all from Fake Britain today. Bye for now.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd