Browse content similar to Episode 2. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it seems. | 0:00:03 | 0:00:06 | |
Welcome to Fake Britain. | 0:00:06 | 0:00:08 | |
Get down! Get down! | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
Get your hands behind your back now! | 0:00:23 | 0:00:24 | |
It's just an ordinary house - it could be anywhere in the country, | 0:00:24 | 0:00:29 | |
but this is the Fake Britain house, and it's filled with fakes. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:33 | |
You may not know it, but your home could be too. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:37 | |
In this series, we'll be investigating the criminals, | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
trying to get their hands on your cash, | 0:00:40 | 0:00:42 | |
by using fraud, forgeries and fakery. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:46 | |
And I'll be showing you how you can avoid being taken for a ride. | 0:00:46 | 0:00:51 | |
Today, on Fake Britain - | 0:00:52 | 0:00:54 | |
lorry drivers faking their working hours records... | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
Hello, it's the police. Can you open it up, please? | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
The driver had been on duty for some 111 hours, 44 minutes. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:05 | |
..and the devastating effect this illegal tampering | 0:01:06 | 0:01:09 | |
can have on innocent road users. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
The dangers are astronomical and, in some ways, | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
these are ticking time bombs on our roads. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:17 | |
Who can you trust to book your travel? | 0:01:17 | 0:01:20 | |
We hear how a family of 11 fell victim to fake holiday tickets. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:25 | |
I stood there thinking, "It's not happening. It's not happening to me." | 0:01:25 | 0:01:30 | |
And are all degrees worth the paper they're written on? | 0:01:30 | 0:01:34 | |
We expose the truth about fake degrees | 0:01:34 | 0:01:36 | |
and the damage they're doing to Britain's job market. | 0:01:36 | 0:01:39 | |
There are people taking jobs in this country who are not qualified, | 0:01:39 | 0:01:43 | |
don't have the skills and are liars. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:45 | |
This is a tachograph - there's one | 0:01:51 | 0:01:54 | |
in every lorry on Britain's roads, | 0:01:54 | 0:01:56 | |
and it produces a written record like this, | 0:01:56 | 0:02:00 | |
with details of every journey the vehicle takes. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:04 | |
This can be checked to make sure that the driver | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
isn't driving too fast, or for too long. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
The system is designed to make Britain's roads safer. | 0:02:09 | 0:02:13 | |
But what happens if this has been tampered with, making this a fake? | 0:02:13 | 0:02:19 | |
Essex, 1pm. | 0:02:22 | 0:02:24 | |
Police and Vehicle Agency officers | 0:02:24 | 0:02:25 | |
are carrying out a stop-check operation | 0:02:25 | 0:02:28 | |
on lorry drivers, to see if their vehicles and records are legitimate. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
Traffic officer PC Alastair Cuthbertson's heading to | 0:02:32 | 0:02:36 | |
a vehicle check site, where officers have stopped a driver | 0:02:36 | 0:02:39 | |
that they suspect has been faking his tachograph chart. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:42 | |
Colleagues from VOSA have stopped a Portuguese-registered lorry | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
and, on checking, they found that his driver's hours are false - | 0:02:47 | 0:02:51 | |
they're fake records. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
We need to confirm when he was at rest and, as a result, | 0:02:53 | 0:02:57 | |
we'll have a chat with him and see what we can find. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
The South East of England | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
is a thoroughfare for truck drivers from overseas, | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
but all must abide by EU laws when it comes to how many hours | 0:03:05 | 0:03:08 | |
they can drive and when their rest periods should be taken. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:12 | |
It seems one driver's got a total lack of respect for the law. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:15 | |
They've asked me to come up here and help them deal with it, | 0:03:15 | 0:03:18 | |
which is what we're going to do. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:20 | |
Tachographs were introduced in the late '70s, | 0:03:20 | 0:03:22 | |
to cap drivers' working hours, in a bid to make Britain's roads safer. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:27 | |
Lorry drivers can operate up to nine hours a day, | 0:03:27 | 0:03:30 | |
with a maximum of 56 hours a week, or 90 hours a fortnight. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:35 | |
But fraudsters have developed ways to manipulate | 0:03:35 | 0:03:38 | |
the tachograph recording device, to fake the charts - an offence that | 0:03:38 | 0:03:42 | |
can carry a punishment of a £5,000 fine and up to two years in prison. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:46 | |
Habla Ingles? Habla espanol? | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
Espanol. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:55 | |
Espanol. Me poquito espanol. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:57 | |
OK? Muchos problemas. | 0:03:57 | 0:03:59 | |
-No. -Si. Si. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:02 | |
The Portuguese driver may be denying faking his tachograph, | 0:04:02 | 0:04:06 | |
but officers back at base have seen photos from police cameras | 0:04:06 | 0:04:10 | |
that show the lorry was moving, | 0:04:10 | 0:04:12 | |
even though his tachograph chart shows it was at rest. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:16 | |
Basically, you're driving your truck - 13:16, you weren't asleep. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:20 | |
Not resting. | 0:04:20 | 0:04:21 | |
OK? Dartford Tunnel - again, we have a photograph of this, of you driving. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:27 | |
Yeah? | 0:04:27 | 0:04:29 | |
You were driving in Epping, and you weren't recording your driving. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:32 | |
Fabricado... Not the truth. Yeah? | 0:04:32 | 0:04:37 | |
Alastair suspects the Portuguese driver has used | 0:04:38 | 0:04:41 | |
one of the more basic methods to fake his tachograph, | 0:04:41 | 0:04:45 | |
which requires a simple bar magnet. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:48 | |
To enable the records to be faked, you put a magnet on what is | 0:04:48 | 0:04:52 | |
the gearbox sending unit. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:54 | |
It sends the impulses up to the tachograph unit in the cab. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
By using a bar magnet, | 0:04:58 | 0:05:00 | |
the driver can put the tachograph unit to sleep, | 0:05:00 | 0:05:02 | |
which will stop his hours from being recorded | 0:05:02 | 0:05:04 | |
and start creating a fake tachograph chart, | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
which could pocket the driver and his company | 0:05:07 | 0:05:10 | |
more cash by keeping the lorry on the road around the clock. | 0:05:10 | 0:05:14 | |
Hello? | 0:05:14 | 0:05:15 | |
Convinced the driver's adopting this method, Alastair's hoping | 0:05:15 | 0:05:19 | |
the driver's boss will be able to persuade him to come clean. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:23 | |
I don't want to make life difficult, | 0:05:23 | 0:05:24 | |
but I would like him to give me the magnet, yeah? OK? | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
Why don't you speak to your driver now and explain the situation, | 0:05:27 | 0:05:33 | |
and you tell him what I want, please. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:35 | |
I'd like honesty. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
After a quick chat, the driver finally sees sense. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:46 | |
OK. Muchas gracias. | 0:05:46 | 0:05:48 | |
Here we go - this is the magnet that he's used to make his records fake. | 0:05:48 | 0:05:53 | |
He's now surrendered it, on his company's instructions. | 0:05:53 | 0:05:57 | |
It's just a simple block magnet, quite strong, | 0:05:57 | 0:05:59 | |
and that will clamp on and stop the records being correct, | 0:05:59 | 0:06:03 | |
make fake records by using a magnet. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
With the magnet safely in custody, | 0:06:07 | 0:06:08 | |
Alastair's stopped this illegal driver in his tracks. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:12 | |
On this occasion, he's going to issue a warning and a fine, | 0:06:12 | 0:06:16 | |
but more prolific fakers have ended up in prison. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:19 | |
Clamping down on drivers faking their tachograph records | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
is now a priority for Essex Police, | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
after it witnessed one of the worst lorry crashes in recent years. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:31 | |
It involved an exhausted driver, | 0:06:33 | 0:06:35 | |
who'd been behind the wheel for one and a half times the legal limit. | 0:06:35 | 0:06:39 | |
And that was one of the most complex scenes | 0:06:39 | 0:06:42 | |
that I've ever arrived at - four goods vehicles, | 0:06:42 | 0:06:45 | |
six cars. We didn't know how many people were injured at the time. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:51 | |
It's a day Keith Mouthton, from Ilford in East London, | 0:06:52 | 0:06:55 | |
will never be able to forget. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:57 | |
On that Friday, my dad was driving the car, | 0:06:57 | 0:07:00 | |
so I was in the passenger seat. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
We was coming off at the Lakeside turnoff, and there was a queue | 0:07:03 | 0:07:08 | |
of traffic getting off of the motorway, onto that junction. | 0:07:08 | 0:07:12 | |
And the only thing I can remember | 0:07:12 | 0:07:14 | |
was being violently shook to one side. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:18 | |
And then I see what I thought was a trailer coming towards me, | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
and then I blacked out. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:22 | |
From that moment on, I don't really remember | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
too much about it, to be honest. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:27 | |
The CCTV caught the details of what Anton Maizen, | 0:07:27 | 0:07:32 | |
a driver from Germany, had done behind the wheel. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:35 | |
Investigators found he'd failed to apply his brakes, | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
as his lorry ploughed into the back of stationary traffic | 0:07:38 | 0:07:43 | |
at a speed of 56 miles per hour. | 0:07:43 | 0:07:45 | |
He'd left Germany the previous day, | 0:07:45 | 0:07:47 | |
and had covered 840 miles over the last 23 hours, | 0:07:47 | 0:07:51 | |
with the previous 15 spent behind the wheel. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:54 | |
Many of us are drivers, | 0:07:54 | 0:07:56 | |
and we can only imagine driving 800 miles in one 24-hour period. | 0:07:56 | 0:08:00 | |
We would know that we were fighting the effects of sleep, | 0:08:00 | 0:08:03 | |
and that we're endangering ourselves and everybody else around us. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:07 | |
My dad was laying on my side, and cos I couldn't move, | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
he was just laying there - his head was here. | 0:08:12 | 0:08:14 | |
And I tried to talk to him, but nothing was coming back. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:18 | |
And the next thing I remember was going to the air ambulance, | 0:08:18 | 0:08:22 | |
and after that, I don't remember a thing. | 0:08:22 | 0:08:25 | |
One of the moments that I came round, | 0:08:25 | 0:08:27 | |
the first thing I asked is how my dad was. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
And that's when they told me. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:32 | |
Keith's father Ronald didn't make it out alive. | 0:08:32 | 0:08:37 | |
It's the little bits and pieces that I really miss, you know, | 0:08:37 | 0:08:39 | |
and they're never going to come back, | 0:08:39 | 0:08:41 | |
and I have to realise that. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:43 | |
I've got very good memories of Dad, and they're the ones I keep. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:48 | |
I miss my dad a lot. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:49 | |
Anton Maizen had used multiple tachograph charts, | 0:08:49 | 0:08:54 | |
so that the authorities wouldn't know | 0:08:54 | 0:08:56 | |
how many hours he'd been driving. | 0:08:56 | 0:08:58 | |
We found one tachograph chart screwed up in his sock. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:01 | |
We found another hidden in the seat of his cab, | 0:09:01 | 0:09:04 | |
and one actually in the tachograph head. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:06 | |
I can only guess that he wanted to cover his tracks, | 0:09:06 | 0:09:09 | |
self-preservation, and hide those fake records. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:14 | |
Keith spent 18 days in hospital with a fractured pelvis, | 0:09:15 | 0:09:19 | |
broken ribs and a punctured lung. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:21 | |
One year on, his health is still suffering. | 0:09:21 | 0:09:25 | |
I'm undergoing counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder, | 0:09:25 | 0:09:29 | |
because I'm finding that actually dealing with the accident itself | 0:09:29 | 0:09:34 | |
and the aftermath of it was very, very difficult. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:38 | |
My wife does her best to cheer me up, but sometimes, | 0:09:38 | 0:09:40 | |
the feelings are overwhelming | 0:09:40 | 0:09:42 | |
and nothing can be done, and I just have to get through it. | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
Words can't describe what I feel for my wife. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:48 | |
Anton Maizen was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:58 | |
For these drivers that are breaking the law | 0:09:58 | 0:10:00 | |
by going over on their tachos, fiddling their tachos, | 0:10:00 | 0:10:02 | |
I'd like to get hold of them and shake them, | 0:10:02 | 0:10:05 | |
just to make sure they understand | 0:10:05 | 0:10:07 | |
where I'm coming from, | 0:10:07 | 0:10:08 | |
as I've been on the receiving end of it. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:11 | |
Making fake records leads to tiredness, | 0:10:11 | 0:10:16 | |
fatigue and this type of crash. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:18 | |
Later, we see the outrageous | 0:10:18 | 0:10:21 | |
number of hours behind the wheel | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
some tachograph fakers are clocking up. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:26 | |
The areas marked in red | 0:10:26 | 0:10:27 | |
are those areas where the driver had actually driven, | 0:10:27 | 0:10:31 | |
but had used the tachograph interrupter device | 0:10:31 | 0:10:34 | |
to create a fraudulent record. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:36 | |
And we show that not only do their interrupter devices | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
fake the tachograph records, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:41 | |
they can also transform the lorry into a death trap. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:44 | |
We should be the slowest vehicle on this road. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:48 | |
At this minute in time, we're the fastest vehicle on the road. | 0:10:48 | 0:10:51 | |
Suntan lotion, a good book, | 0:10:57 | 0:10:59 | |
shades, | 0:10:59 | 0:11:01 | |
all very important for a great summer holiday, | 0:11:01 | 0:11:03 | |
but not as important as this - | 0:11:03 | 0:11:05 | |
your ticket to sun, sea and sand. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
Unless, that is, it turns out to be like this one - a fake. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
As one family of 11 found out, | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
that means your holiday never gets off the ground. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:17 | |
From Barcelona to the Bahamas, | 0:11:20 | 0:11:22 | |
when it comes to Brits holidaying abroad, we are spoilt for choice. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
On almost every High Street in every town in the country, | 0:11:25 | 0:11:29 | |
there'll be someone, somewhere, set up to sell you a holiday. | 0:11:29 | 0:11:33 | |
But not all travel agents are there to send you to paradise. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:37 | |
Some are fakers - they just want to pocket your hard-earned cash. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:41 | |
When Maureen Keay, from Hull, downsized her house, | 0:11:41 | 0:11:45 | |
she decided to spend the extra money on a holiday, but she didn't fancy | 0:11:45 | 0:11:49 | |
just going by herself, she wanted the whole family to come with her - | 0:11:49 | 0:11:54 | |
all 11 of them. | 0:11:54 | 0:11:56 | |
There was myself, my daughter, | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
her partner, my granddaughter, | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
my grandson and their two partners, | 0:12:02 | 0:12:05 | |
my great-grandchildren, | 0:12:05 | 0:12:07 | |
and my other grandson. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:09 | |
How generous, and a lovely treat for the family. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:13 | |
With a little help from her eldest daughter Debbie, | 0:12:13 | 0:12:16 | |
Maureen took to the web, | 0:12:16 | 0:12:17 | |
and it wasn't long before she found something worth writing home about - | 0:12:17 | 0:12:21 | |
a five-star resort in Antalya, in Turkey. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:24 | |
And before you ask, no, it's not a fake. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:27 | |
We'd never been together before and I thought it'd be really exciting, | 0:12:27 | 0:12:30 | |
we'd be able to let our hair down and everything like that. | 0:12:30 | 0:12:35 | |
Really looking forward to it. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:36 | |
Now, we've looked at the dangers of booking through | 0:12:36 | 0:12:40 | |
fake online travel agents before, | 0:12:40 | 0:12:42 | |
but this wasn't going to be a problem for Maureen | 0:12:42 | 0:12:44 | |
as she knew who she wanted to book through - | 0:12:44 | 0:12:47 | |
a High Street travel agent called Ellen Harrison, | 0:12:47 | 0:12:50 | |
who was based in Hull. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
Maureen had booked through her before and was impressed. | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
Yeah, why not? She's got you | 0:12:58 | 0:12:59 | |
loads of deals previously, and really good deals as well. | 0:12:59 | 0:13:02 | |
Within two hours, she came back with a price for us all. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
And I said, "Grab it with both hands." | 0:13:06 | 0:13:08 | |
Maureen paid £6,800 all-in, | 0:13:09 | 0:13:12 | |
and to top it all, | 0:13:12 | 0:13:14 | |
Ellen Harrison agreed to book the flights, the hotel, | 0:13:14 | 0:13:16 | |
and the transfers, so they could enjoy a fuss-free family holiday. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:21 | |
We was just over the moon. Really, really over the moon. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
The family printed the vouchers for their hotel, transfers, | 0:13:26 | 0:13:29 | |
and their all-important E-tickets. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:31 | |
They were now set to jet. | 0:13:31 | 0:13:32 | |
But when they arrived at the airport check-in desk the following morning, | 0:13:32 | 0:13:36 | |
events took an unexpected turn. They were told that | 0:13:36 | 0:13:39 | |
the flight booking number on the E-tickets didn't exist. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:42 | |
It looked like they'd just fallen for a fake. | 0:13:42 | 0:13:45 | |
They took one look at the paperwork and said, | 0:13:45 | 0:13:48 | |
"That's not one of our flights." | 0:13:48 | 0:13:49 | |
And with that, it was the most sinking, | 0:13:49 | 0:13:51 | |
heart-wrenching feeling you can imagine. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
I went into a shock mode, I just couldn't speak. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:57 | |
I just stood there thinking, "It's not happening. | 0:13:57 | 0:14:00 | |
"It's not happening to me. It's not happening to my family." | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
Think of the worst moment in your life and that is what it was like. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:07 | |
Once the dust had settled, | 0:14:07 | 0:14:09 | |
Debbie took the paperwork relating to the holiday booking, | 0:14:09 | 0:14:12 | |
which she now suspected was fake, | 0:14:12 | 0:14:14 | |
to Detective Constable Steve Bromby at Humberside Police. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:18 | |
On the surface, it all appeared to be legitimate. | 0:14:18 | 0:14:21 | |
It looks like a genuine booking. | 0:14:21 | 0:14:23 | |
It's got a booking reference number, | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
it's got the destination of where they're travelling to and from. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:29 | |
So, for example, this is from Manchester Airport. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:33 | |
It gives the departure and return dates. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
It gives the lead name and all the people who are travelling. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:39 | |
Looking at that, looks a genuine documentation. | 0:14:39 | 0:14:42 | |
But as Steve Bromby dug a little deeper | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
and contacted Flightline, the company Ellen Harrison | 0:14:44 | 0:14:47 | |
was claiming she'd booked the flights through, | 0:14:47 | 0:14:49 | |
it became clear the tickets weren't what they seemed. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:52 | |
The reference number relates to another holiday. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:56 | |
The font, in relation to the outward and inward, is incorrect, | 0:14:57 | 0:15:01 | |
and there's information here relating to pricing | 0:15:01 | 0:15:05 | |
which is completely missing off this | 0:15:05 | 0:15:07 | |
but, on the genuine booking, would be in there. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:11 | |
So the flight details Ellen Harrison had given the family | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
were as fake as a spray tan. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:18 | |
And it was about to get a whole lot worse, as Steve discovered | 0:15:18 | 0:15:20 | |
the hotel voucher and transfer vouchers were also fakes. | 0:15:20 | 0:15:25 | |
Manchester Airport - all sat on their cases | 0:15:25 | 0:15:27 | |
with their hands on their faces, | 0:15:27 | 0:15:28 | |
and I just said to Debbie, "I'm going to book another holiday." | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
So Maureen booked another trip to Turkey | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
and they flew out that day, | 0:15:35 | 0:15:37 | |
but the new holiday cost Maureen a further £8,000. | 0:15:37 | 0:15:40 | |
Coupled with the cost of the fake holiday, | 0:15:40 | 0:15:43 | |
she was just shy of £15,000 out of pocket. | 0:15:43 | 0:15:47 | |
Personally, I didn't enjoy the holiday. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:49 | |
My children did, but I did not. | 0:15:49 | 0:15:51 | |
I just thought, "How could she do that to me?" | 0:15:51 | 0:15:54 | |
I just couldn't comprehend how somebody could do that | 0:15:54 | 0:15:57 | |
to somebody who they know. | 0:15:57 | 0:15:58 | |
But the actual detail on it... | 0:15:58 | 0:16:02 | |
By looking at it, you would never realise how fake it was. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:05 | |
As for Ellen Harrison, DC Steve Bromby had all the evidence | 0:16:06 | 0:16:10 | |
he needed to prove she'd faked the tickets. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:13 | |
She was given 120 hours' community service | 0:16:13 | 0:16:15 | |
and ordered to pay Maureen compensation. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
It's not the fact that it's the money, | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
it's the fact that she ruined the holiday. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
A holiday that we all was really looking forward to. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:28 | |
And that is the hurting part about it. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
Earlier, we saw Essex Police catch a driver | 0:16:35 | 0:16:38 | |
who'd been faking his tachograph records. | 0:16:38 | 0:16:42 | |
This is the magnet that he's used | 0:16:42 | 0:16:45 | |
to make his records fake. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:47 | |
But it's not just happening in Essex. | 0:16:48 | 0:16:51 | |
The Police Service of Northern Ireland's Superintendent David Moore | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
is also waging war against the fakers, a battle he intends to win. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:59 | |
In Northern Ireland, we have detected 50 vehicles being driven | 0:17:01 | 0:17:04 | |
unlawfully in this manner in the last five years. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:07 | |
We have active investigations running against seven haulage companies. | 0:17:07 | 0:17:12 | |
And this is much more than about road safety, | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
it's also about the fitness of these companies to operate, | 0:17:15 | 0:17:18 | |
the fitness of the directors to run companies, | 0:17:18 | 0:17:20 | |
it's about a level playing field in the commercial sector. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:24 | |
But I want to bring it back to road safety. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:26 | |
These people don't belong on our roads. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:28 | |
Steven Spratt, Operations Manager at the Driver Enforcement Agency, | 0:17:30 | 0:17:34 | |
Northern Ireland's equivalent of VOSA, can spot a faker a mile off. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:38 | |
And after being the driving force behind recent prosecutions | 0:17:40 | 0:17:43 | |
against drivers faking their records, | 0:17:43 | 0:17:45 | |
he now knows all the tricks that they can use. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:48 | |
Here's an example of an array of interrupter devices. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:54 | |
In some instances, we have hard wiring - | 0:17:54 | 0:17:57 | |
a simple relay device that operated through a toggle switch, | 0:17:57 | 0:18:01 | |
it may have been a fog light switch, reversing light switch, whatever. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:05 | |
And the effect of that was simply to switch off the signal | 0:18:05 | 0:18:09 | |
going to the tachograph itself. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:11 | |
These simple switches blend into the dashboard, and can create | 0:18:11 | 0:18:15 | |
fake charts by cutting the signal to the lorry's tachograph recorder. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:19 | |
But some fake-makers are even more sophisticated. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:22 | |
This one uses RF technology, where it's a radio signal. | 0:18:24 | 0:18:28 | |
Typically, that would send a signal to your garage door. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:30 | |
It sends a signal to this receiver device. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:33 | |
The device itself will be hidden | 0:18:33 | 0:18:35 | |
somewhere inside the vehicle's construction | 0:18:35 | 0:18:37 | |
and will operate as a simple remote switch itself, | 0:18:37 | 0:18:41 | |
but very, very effective. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
And very, very clever. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:46 | |
Stick it in your pocket and it looks just like the key to the yard, | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
so if the driver's stopped, they're less likely to get rumbled. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:54 | |
But the DVA's been fighting back, | 0:18:54 | 0:18:56 | |
and has already prosecuted two firms for sing these devices - | 0:18:56 | 0:18:59 | |
Dewart Transport Limited and Arnold Transport, | 0:18:59 | 0:19:04 | |
where both the drivers and the firms' owners | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
received suspended prison sentences. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:08 | |
In these cases, once they'd discovered | 0:19:08 | 0:19:11 | |
the tachograph faking equipment in the lorries, | 0:19:11 | 0:19:13 | |
Steven and his team had to prove that | 0:19:13 | 0:19:15 | |
they'd actually been used by drivers out on the road. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:19 | |
What we were able to do, in this particular case, | 0:19:19 | 0:19:21 | |
was to acquire GPS tracker records, to determine a minute-by-minute | 0:19:21 | 0:19:26 | |
movement of the actual vehicle itself. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:28 | |
In this case, a separate GPS tracker had been installed | 0:19:28 | 0:19:32 | |
in the lorry by the haulage company. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:34 | |
It's the same technology found in your average sat nav, | 0:19:34 | 0:19:37 | |
and gave the team a true record | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
of where and when the lorry had been driven. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:43 | |
When the team compared it to the suspected fake tachograph charts, | 0:19:43 | 0:19:47 | |
they got a bit of a shock. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:49 | |
In this particular case, there was 50% more driving done | 0:19:49 | 0:19:54 | |
than what was actually shown on the tachograph record. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:57 | |
The areas marked on the chart in red | 0:19:57 | 0:20:00 | |
are those areas where the driver had actually driven, | 0:20:00 | 0:20:03 | |
but had used the tachograph interrupter device | 0:20:03 | 0:20:06 | |
to create a fraudulent record. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:08 | |
And the inspectors would have seen this chart, as opposed to this chart. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:14 | |
Not only is this highly illegal, but also very unsafe, | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
as the drivers were using the fake charts to cover up the fact | 0:20:18 | 0:20:21 | |
they were working over twice the legal limit for driver hours. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:25 | |
During another similar investigation, | 0:20:25 | 0:20:27 | |
the driver had been on duty for some 111 hours, 44 minutes, | 0:20:27 | 0:20:33 | |
over a five-day period, | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
where he had only taken a maximum rest period of five hours. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:38 | |
If my maths is correct, | 0:20:38 | 0:20:40 | |
that means he was driving an average of just over 22 hours a day. | 0:20:40 | 0:20:45 | |
Studies have shown that almost 20% of accidents | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
on Britain's roads are related to tiredness, | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
and 40% of those involve commercial vehicles. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:55 | |
No question about the extent of fatigue and sleep deprivation. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
And it's more shocking when you find out it's a fairly familiar story. | 0:20:59 | 0:21:04 | |
We met a lorry driver who was convicted of faking | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
his tachograph chart. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:08 | |
For his protection, | 0:21:08 | 0:21:10 | |
we've obscured his identity. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:11 | |
At his haulage firm, | 0:21:11 | 0:21:13 | |
it was company policy to use | 0:21:13 | 0:21:14 | |
an electronic tachograph interrupter device. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:17 | |
The boss come over and just says to you on the quiet, | 0:21:17 | 0:21:20 | |
"If you run out of time, this is what you do | 0:21:20 | 0:21:24 | |
"so that you can get your load finished." | 0:21:24 | 0:21:27 | |
He says, "It's no big deal, everybody's doing it." | 0:21:27 | 0:21:30 | |
Our anonymous driver claims he started using it | 0:21:30 | 0:21:33 | |
due to pressure from his boss | 0:21:33 | 0:21:35 | |
to get the deliveries done. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:37 | |
But slowly and surely, he was sucked into | 0:21:37 | 0:21:39 | |
the fraudulent world of the faker. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:41 | |
You're stressing and you're worrying about it, | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
and if you dwell on it, you get to the stage | 0:21:44 | 0:21:47 | |
where you're near physically sick. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:49 | |
End of the day, you have to learn to live with what you're doing. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:54 | |
It gets to be a way of life. | 0:21:54 | 0:21:56 | |
You just accept it and get on with it. | 0:21:56 | 0:21:57 | |
Faking it became the norm, | 0:21:57 | 0:22:00 | |
and drivers learned how to exist on barely any sleep. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:04 | |
You could pick lottery numbers, so you could, | 0:22:04 | 0:22:06 | |
as to just how many hours... | 0:22:06 | 0:22:08 | |
You're legally allowed to do nine or ten hours driving a day, depending. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:13 | |
There's drivers could do 20-plus. | 0:22:13 | 0:22:15 | |
I've heard of drivers going out on a Sunday | 0:22:15 | 0:22:19 | |
and not getting to bed till midweek - Tuesday or Wednesday. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:23 | |
You just grab 20/30 minutes, a wee power nap sort of thing. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:27 | |
You're driving, windows down, cups of coffee - usual story. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:32 | |
But it's not a story, it's the reality. | 0:22:34 | 0:22:37 | |
And it's not only the drivers | 0:22:37 | 0:22:38 | |
putting the lives of innocent motorists at risk, | 0:22:38 | 0:22:42 | |
it's the lorries themselves. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:44 | |
Once fitted, the tachograph faking device | 0:22:46 | 0:22:48 | |
can turn the lorry into a lethal machine, | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
as built-in safety systems are disabled, | 0:22:51 | 0:22:53 | |
along with the lorry's speed limiter. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:56 | |
PC Mike Rennie's taking out a lorry from a previous investigation | 0:22:57 | 0:23:00 | |
that's rigged with a tachograph interrupting device, | 0:23:00 | 0:23:04 | |
to see just how dangerous it can be. | 0:23:04 | 0:23:06 | |
145, we're about to head off. Could you reset your trip? | 0:23:06 | 0:23:09 | |
This is a risky operation. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:11 | |
Three police vehicles are travelling in convoy with the lorry, | 0:23:11 | 0:23:15 | |
to make sure they're safe at all times. | 0:23:15 | 0:23:17 | |
It's just giving us a safer environment to work in. | 0:23:19 | 0:23:22 | |
It's to act as a safety barrier for any other road users. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:27 | |
Mike activates the tachograph faker which is hidden in the lorry, | 0:23:27 | 0:23:30 | |
and immediately, the speedometer is disabled. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:34 | |
The test is now on. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:35 | |
You can actually physically feel yourself | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
being thrown into the back of the seat. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:40 | |
Almost instantly, | 0:23:40 | 0:23:41 | |
there's an issue with one of the lorry's most vital safety systems. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:46 | |
If you look at the dashboard in front of me, | 0:23:46 | 0:23:48 | |
the top right-hand corner, there's a brake warning light came on. | 0:23:48 | 0:23:51 | |
That is showing that there is a possible problem with the ABS. | 0:23:51 | 0:23:56 | |
ABS is the lorry's anti-lock braking system. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:01 | |
Failure can cause the wheels to lock when the brakes are applied, | 0:24:01 | 0:24:04 | |
causing the lorry to skid. Not good. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:07 | |
With the device fitted, | 0:24:07 | 0:24:09 | |
all the lorry's safety systems are in meltdown. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
But that's not the only danger here. | 0:24:12 | 0:24:15 | |
More worryingly, the lorry's speed limiter has also been disabled, | 0:24:15 | 0:24:18 | |
meaning it can now travel at speeds well above | 0:24:18 | 0:24:21 | |
the legal restriction of 56 miles per hour. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:24 | |
The traffic car behind us has now told us | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
we're travelling at 80 miles per hour. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:31 | |
85. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
You don't get the concept of the speed we're travelling at. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:38 | |
The ramifications if anything happened in front of us | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
would be severe, trying to stop such a heavy vehicle at this speed, | 0:24:41 | 0:24:44 | |
hence the reason we have the closure in place. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:48 | |
It's lucky, as the lorry's stopping distance | 0:24:48 | 0:24:52 | |
is now double what it should be. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:54 | |
We're overtaking everything on this road, which should not be the case. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
We should be the slowest vehicle on this road. | 0:24:57 | 0:24:59 | |
At this minute in time, we're the fastest vehicle on the road. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:03 | |
Look how quick we are catching up with that car. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:07 | |
That should not be happening. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:08 | |
The dangers of travelling at this speed | 0:25:08 | 0:25:10 | |
don't even bear thinking about, | 0:25:10 | 0:25:12 | |
and as the surrounding police cars pave a safe route for the lorry, | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
Mike is in for quite a shock. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:18 | |
95 miles an hour - I'm going to ease back. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:20 | |
We've just peaked at 100 miles an hour... | 0:25:26 | 0:25:29 | |
..and truth be told, that came as quite a surprise, | 0:25:31 | 0:25:36 | |
because there was no concept of | 0:25:36 | 0:25:37 | |
having travelled at that sort of a speed. | 0:25:37 | 0:25:41 | |
This vehicle is being test driven in a controlled environment, | 0:25:41 | 0:25:44 | |
by an advanced police driver. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:46 | |
But clearly, the speed has taken its toll. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
The lorry's hit a problem. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:50 | |
-We've an engine malfunction there, Mark. -Yeah. -It's all right? | 0:25:50 | 0:25:55 | |
What's the temperatures like? | 0:25:55 | 0:25:57 | |
The battery light's came on. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:00 | |
Temperature's down. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:04 | |
Excess speed, tired drivers, and major mechanical faults, | 0:26:04 | 0:26:09 | |
it's no wonder that Superintendant Moore is working hard | 0:26:09 | 0:26:12 | |
to drive these fakers off the road. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:14 | |
I don't want to get over-dramatic here, | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
but imagine a comparison made with the commercial aircraft industry. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:21 | |
A 40-ton vehicle being controlled by someone who is exhausted, | 0:26:21 | 0:26:25 | |
where all the safety systems, designed though experience | 0:26:25 | 0:26:30 | |
and learning over many years, have simply been disabled. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
And in a way, it's even more dangerous, | 0:26:33 | 0:26:36 | |
because these things aren't operating high in the sky, | 0:26:36 | 0:26:38 | |
they're operating feet away from primary schools, | 0:26:38 | 0:26:41 | |
inches away from other road users in much smaller vehicles. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:45 | |
The dangers are astronomical, and in some ways, | 0:26:45 | 0:26:48 | |
these are ticking time bombs on our roads. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
Later, we follow the authorities as they raid a haulage firm | 0:26:51 | 0:26:55 | |
suspected of faking their records on an industrial scale. | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
This is what's known as a tachograph interrupter device. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:02 | |
Take a look at this. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:09 | |
It's a degree certificate - the gold standard in higher education. | 0:27:09 | 0:27:13 | |
But as you may have guessed, as this is the Fake Britain house, | 0:27:13 | 0:27:17 | |
this one is a fake. Now, we've dealt with | 0:27:17 | 0:27:20 | |
bogus qualifications before on Fake Britain, | 0:27:20 | 0:27:23 | |
but what we're finding now is the production of these | 0:27:23 | 0:27:27 | |
is so widespread and so sophisticated | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
that it's causing a real problem in the job market, | 0:27:29 | 0:27:33 | |
not least for those genuine students | 0:27:33 | 0:27:36 | |
who spent time and money getting a real degree. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:40 | |
It's reckoned that by having a degree, | 0:27:41 | 0:27:44 | |
you'll earn around 61% more than your non-university-educated peers. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:49 | |
So it's no wonder there are fakers out there | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
trying to cash in on the job market. | 0:27:52 | 0:27:53 | |
Something which is of concern to Jane Rowley, | 0:27:55 | 0:27:58 | |
who runs a government-backed organisation | 0:27:58 | 0:28:00 | |
responsible for verifying people's qualification, | 0:28:00 | 0:28:03 | |
called the Higher Education Degree Datacheck. | 0:28:03 | 0:28:07 | |
We've got tens of thousands of students and graduates | 0:28:07 | 0:28:10 | |
paying a lot of money now for a university degree | 0:28:10 | 0:28:13 | |
from the UK, who are potentially being disadvantaged | 0:28:13 | 0:28:16 | |
in the job market by people with fake degrees. | 0:28:16 | 0:28:20 | |
So they're not getting job opportunities | 0:28:20 | 0:28:22 | |
because a fraudster is getting in ahead of them. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:24 | |
And it could be happening in a workplace near you, | 0:28:24 | 0:28:27 | |
as a recent survey of university graduates found that | 0:28:27 | 0:28:30 | |
two thirds felt the increase in tuition fees | 0:28:30 | 0:28:33 | |
is making buying a fake degree certificate more tempting. | 0:28:33 | 0:28:37 | |
14% confirmed they knew someone who had bought one, | 0:28:37 | 0:28:41 | |
or who was considering it. | 0:28:41 | 0:28:43 | |
For undergraduates like Ryan, Max and Olivia, | 0:28:43 | 0:28:45 | |
at the University of Manchester, that doesn't come as welcome news. | 0:28:45 | 0:28:49 | |
It's almost like our degrees are quite insecure, in a way, | 0:28:49 | 0:28:52 | |
because we work really hard for three years | 0:28:52 | 0:28:56 | |
to get a good qualification, | 0:28:56 | 0:28:58 | |
and if somebody can come and get exactly the same thing | 0:28:58 | 0:29:01 | |
by spending 50 quid, then it demerits our degrees. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:07 | |
And with a degree costing students a whopping £27,000 in fees alone, | 0:29:07 | 0:29:13 | |
it's not surprising they want to protect themselves from fakers. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:16 | |
It's a global problem. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:18 | |
The UK has a very strong reputation in the world for higher education, | 0:29:18 | 0:29:23 | |
so there's a real advantage in having a UK degree, even if it's a fake. | 0:29:23 | 0:29:27 | |
Jane's seen hundreds of example of fake degree certificates, | 0:29:27 | 0:29:31 | |
and they're getting better. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:33 | |
I've got a certificate here from the University of Nottingham. | 0:29:33 | 0:29:36 | |
This is a real university, and this is someone who has used | 0:29:36 | 0:29:40 | |
a real Nottingham certificate as the basis for a fake certificate. | 0:29:40 | 0:29:44 | |
It's got the right crest, it's got the right hologram, | 0:29:44 | 0:29:47 | |
and all the details are correct. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:49 | |
Nottingham have confirmed to us that the student | 0:29:49 | 0:29:51 | |
named on this certificate | 0:29:51 | 0:29:53 | |
has not ever been enrolled at Nottingham University, | 0:29:53 | 0:29:56 | |
so it is wise to check with the issuing university. | 0:29:56 | 0:29:59 | |
Even when the certificate looks real, you can still be looking at a fake. | 0:29:59 | 0:30:02 | |
Degrees targeting the international job market are also in circulation, | 0:30:02 | 0:30:07 | |
with fake university names, based on well-known British places. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:12 | |
Chelsea University, which of course is not | 0:30:12 | 0:30:15 | |
and has never been a real university in the UK. | 0:30:15 | 0:30:18 | |
No, but it does come with a package of other fake documents | 0:30:18 | 0:30:22 | |
which do make it look, well, authentic. | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
It's then backed up with a full transcript | 0:30:25 | 0:30:27 | |
of the marks of this individual. | 0:30:27 | 0:30:29 | |
Not only that, it's got two letters of recommendation from doctors | 0:30:29 | 0:30:34 | |
and professors at Chelsea University. | 0:30:34 | 0:30:36 | |
Now, if you had all of these documents together, | 0:30:36 | 0:30:39 | |
you might be convinced that this is a real student | 0:30:39 | 0:30:42 | |
and not check back to see that Chelsea is a fake institution. | 0:30:42 | 0:30:45 | |
This is what's known as a degree mill, or bogus university, | 0:30:45 | 0:30:49 | |
and it has no official accreditation in the UK. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:52 | |
It just churns out fake degrees for a fee, most commonly bought online. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:57 | |
It's a lucrative business and, in fact, | 0:30:57 | 0:30:59 | |
they do compete with each other. | 0:30:59 | 0:31:01 | |
There are so many degree mills out there | 0:31:01 | 0:31:03 | |
that they've started to compete against each other, saying - | 0:31:03 | 0:31:06 | |
we provide better fake qualifications than another site down the road. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:10 | |
There are around 130 of these fake institutions in the UK, | 0:31:10 | 0:31:15 | |
and they're getting more and more sophisticated. | 0:31:15 | 0:31:18 | |
On first glance, you might think this is a certificate | 0:31:18 | 0:31:21 | |
from the University of Wolverhampton, but if you look closely, | 0:31:21 | 0:31:24 | |
you can see that there isn't a "P" | 0:31:24 | 0:31:26 | |
in the word "Wolverhampton", | 0:31:26 | 0:31:27 | |
so this is a fake certificate | 0:31:27 | 0:31:29 | |
from a degree mill. | 0:31:29 | 0:31:30 | |
What we have got for the University of Wolverhamton, without a "P", | 0:31:30 | 0:31:33 | |
is a back-up website. | 0:31:33 | 0:31:35 | |
The wording and the photos are, in fact, copied from | 0:31:35 | 0:31:39 | |
the real University of Wolverhampton's site - | 0:31:39 | 0:31:42 | |
the one with the "P". | 0:31:42 | 0:31:44 | |
But on the fake site, there's a clever additional feature. | 0:31:44 | 0:31:48 | |
And it also has a section where you can check this certificate. | 0:31:48 | 0:31:51 | |
If I got to "search profile", and enter that student ID... | 0:31:51 | 0:31:56 | |
..it will pull up the named student on this certificate | 0:31:58 | 0:32:02 | |
and the marks the student obtained, to say - yes, we are authenticating | 0:32:02 | 0:32:06 | |
this student from the University of Wolverhamton. | 0:32:06 | 0:32:09 | |
So if an employer wants to check that the student did attend | 0:32:09 | 0:32:12 | |
the university, they just log on to the fake website, and... | 0:32:12 | 0:32:16 | |
Within seconds, I've got a verification | 0:32:16 | 0:32:18 | |
that the certificate I've got in my hand is a real student, | 0:32:18 | 0:32:22 | |
a real graduate from that university. | 0:32:22 | 0:32:24 | |
Unfortunately, they're both completely fake. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:26 | |
We took to the web to find out just how easy it is to buy | 0:32:26 | 0:32:30 | |
one of these fake degrees. A couple of clicks later, | 0:32:30 | 0:32:34 | |
we'd found a catalogue of websites offering replacement degrees, | 0:32:34 | 0:32:38 | |
replica degree certificates and - my personal favourite - | 0:32:38 | 0:32:40 | |
genuine fake degrees. | 0:32:40 | 0:32:42 | |
UK plc itself is being duped because there are people taking jobs | 0:32:42 | 0:32:47 | |
in this country who are not qualified, don't have the skills | 0:32:47 | 0:32:51 | |
and, at its most basic level, are liars. | 0:32:51 | 0:32:54 | |
It's illegal in this country | 0:32:54 | 0:32:56 | |
to present yourself with a fake degree, | 0:32:56 | 0:32:59 | |
and it can carry a sentence of up to ten years. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:02 | |
One place where a degree faker was found | 0:33:03 | 0:33:06 | |
was the seaside town of Torquay, | 0:33:06 | 0:33:09 | |
more associated with summer fun than scam artists. | 0:33:09 | 0:33:12 | |
But not if you're DC Nicola Zuliya, of Devon and Cornwall Police, | 0:33:12 | 0:33:17 | |
when she received a call from a local school | 0:33:17 | 0:33:20 | |
claiming a teacher had tried to use fake degree certificates. | 0:33:20 | 0:33:23 | |
It hit our hat peg right at the end of the day, | 0:33:23 | 0:33:26 | |
as we were about to go home, and it was apparent that | 0:33:26 | 0:33:29 | |
it wasn't something that could sit around and wait | 0:33:29 | 0:33:31 | |
cos we didn't want her continue teaching vulnerable students, | 0:33:31 | 0:33:35 | |
if it was a genuine allegation. | 0:33:35 | 0:33:38 | |
41-year-old Dr Julia Rawlinson - | 0:33:40 | 0:33:42 | |
or, at least, she was claiming to have a doctorate - | 0:33:42 | 0:33:45 | |
had been working at the Westlands School in Torquay | 0:33:45 | 0:33:47 | |
on a temporary basis, | 0:33:47 | 0:33:49 | |
helping biology students with their coursework, | 0:33:49 | 0:33:52 | |
when she applied for a permanent job. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:54 | |
She gave photocopies of her degree certificates to the school, | 0:33:54 | 0:33:58 | |
claiming she'd lost the originals in a flood. | 0:33:58 | 0:34:01 | |
So the school provided me with these certificates. | 0:34:01 | 0:34:04 | |
She had one in a Doctorate of Science Psychology, | 0:34:04 | 0:34:06 | |
and a Master of Science Psychology, | 0:34:06 | 0:34:08 | |
both from Glasgow Caledonian University. | 0:34:08 | 0:34:11 | |
The photocopies would have been the first flag to the school, really. | 0:34:11 | 0:34:15 | |
That's what led them to contact the university | 0:34:15 | 0:34:18 | |
and ask them, "Did she study with you? | 0:34:18 | 0:34:21 | |
"Did she obtain this qualification?" | 0:34:21 | 0:34:23 | |
The answer the university gave to the school was very simple - | 0:34:23 | 0:34:27 | |
no, she didn't study there. | 0:34:27 | 0:34:29 | |
And after closer examination, | 0:34:29 | 0:34:31 | |
they discovered a few things that weren't quite right. | 0:34:31 | 0:34:34 | |
Things like the text on them was wrong, | 0:34:34 | 0:34:37 | |
the imagery on it was just not correct. | 0:34:37 | 0:34:40 | |
And, in fact, it's been signed by the chancellor and the principal, | 0:34:40 | 0:34:43 | |
and they bear no resemblance either, | 0:34:43 | 0:34:45 | |
so the certificates that she provided were really, really poor. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:49 | |
As the saying goes, the devil's in the detail, | 0:34:49 | 0:34:52 | |
and there was something else that Julia Rawlinson had overlooked. | 0:34:52 | 0:34:56 | |
She alleged that she got her Doctorate in July 1996, | 0:34:56 | 0:35:01 | |
and the Masters in August 1993. | 0:35:01 | 0:35:05 | |
Those courses didn't run in those years, | 0:35:05 | 0:35:08 | |
so she hadn't paid attention to the minute detail. | 0:35:08 | 0:35:11 | |
Nicola carried out a search of | 0:35:11 | 0:35:13 | |
Julia Rawlinson's house | 0:35:13 | 0:35:15 | |
and discovered a folder containing | 0:35:15 | 0:35:17 | |
a whole catalogue of fake degrees | 0:35:17 | 0:35:19 | |
that looked like they'd been cut and pasted together at home | 0:35:19 | 0:35:22 | |
and photocopied to cover her tracks. | 0:35:22 | 0:35:25 | |
And they weren't just limited to British universities either. | 0:35:26 | 0:35:29 | |
She had three from South Africa, but again, with one fatal flaw. | 0:35:29 | 0:35:34 | |
Actually, when you look at the dates, | 0:35:34 | 0:35:37 | |
she obtained two different degrees | 0:35:37 | 0:35:40 | |
in July and October of 1990 | 0:35:40 | 0:35:42 | |
and one in November 1987, | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
and that would be nigh-on impossible to complete. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:48 | |
Unless, of course, you're faking it. | 0:35:48 | 0:35:50 | |
And along with the certificates, | 0:35:50 | 0:35:52 | |
Nicola unearthed a stack of fake CVs, | 0:35:52 | 0:35:54 | |
but what was concerning was that | 0:35:54 | 0:35:56 | |
one of the jobs was genuine. | 0:35:56 | 0:35:59 | |
Julia Rawlinson had been working for Edexcel, | 0:35:59 | 0:36:02 | |
marking GSCE and A-level exam papers. | 0:36:02 | 0:36:05 | |
It was worrying at the time, because we didn't know what sort of impact, | 0:36:05 | 0:36:09 | |
especially with her marking papers, | 0:36:09 | 0:36:11 | |
whether things would have to be recalled | 0:36:11 | 0:36:14 | |
and papers would have to be re-marked. | 0:36:14 | 0:36:16 | |
Nicola contacted all the universities from which | 0:36:18 | 0:36:21 | |
Julia Rawlinson had a certificate. | 0:36:21 | 0:36:24 | |
She was told that not only were all five of the degrees fake, | 0:36:24 | 0:36:27 | |
but that Julia didn't have a degree to her name, | 0:36:27 | 0:36:30 | |
so therefore wasn't a real doctor. | 0:36:30 | 0:36:32 | |
She'd even faked her qualified teacher status, | 0:36:32 | 0:36:35 | |
so she didn't have the proper credentials | 0:36:35 | 0:36:37 | |
to teach in the first place. | 0:36:37 | 0:36:39 | |
But there was one certificate that appeared to be real. | 0:36:39 | 0:36:43 | |
One of the certificates that we found at her home, along with | 0:36:43 | 0:36:46 | |
the forged documents, | 0:36:46 | 0:36:48 | |
was a genuine Postgraduate Certificate in Education | 0:36:48 | 0:36:51 | |
from De Montfort University. | 0:36:51 | 0:36:54 | |
We contacted De Montfort University | 0:36:54 | 0:36:57 | |
and it became apparent that | 0:36:57 | 0:36:58 | |
that would not be a valid qualification now | 0:36:58 | 0:37:01 | |
because she obtained her place on that course through deceit | 0:37:01 | 0:37:04 | |
and didn't have the qualifications | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
in which to complete the PGCE in the first place. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:09 | |
Nicola had seen enough. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:12 | |
Armed with the fake degrees, it was time to give Julia Rawlinson | 0:37:12 | 0:37:15 | |
a different type of interview, where she pleaded guilty to fraud | 0:37:15 | 0:37:19 | |
and was given nine months at Her Majesty's pleasure. | 0:37:19 | 0:37:22 | |
As for the children she'd been helping at Westlands School | 0:37:23 | 0:37:27 | |
whilst faking it as a qualified teacher, | 0:37:27 | 0:37:29 | |
her arrest and prosecution had caused a major disruption | 0:37:29 | 0:37:33 | |
to their lives, just as they were about to take their exams. | 0:37:33 | 0:37:36 | |
She hadn't just forged a document to obtain a bit of money, | 0:37:36 | 0:37:39 | |
she'd had an impact on 60 or 80 children's lives. | 0:37:39 | 0:37:45 | |
They didn't obtain the grades that they wanted to obtain, | 0:37:45 | 0:37:48 | |
and I think the custodial sentence | 0:37:48 | 0:37:50 | |
reflected the severity of what she'd done. | 0:37:50 | 0:37:52 | |
Earlier, we saw just how dangerous lorries can become when fitted | 0:37:58 | 0:38:02 | |
with devices that enable the driver to fake the tachograph records. | 0:38:02 | 0:38:06 | |
These are ticking time bombs on our roads. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:10 | |
And here in Northern Ireland, the authorities are preparing | 0:38:12 | 0:38:15 | |
to investigate a haulage firm | 0:38:15 | 0:38:17 | |
suspected of using sophisticated tachograph interrupter devices | 0:38:17 | 0:38:21 | |
to fake their charts. | 0:38:21 | 0:38:23 | |
The police aren't taking any chances. | 0:38:23 | 0:38:26 | |
The threat level here is severe, | 0:38:26 | 0:38:28 | |
and to that end, ballistic body armour is to be worn | 0:38:28 | 0:38:31 | |
if you are outside. | 0:38:31 | 0:38:34 | |
Over 30 police and DVA officers have been assembled | 0:38:34 | 0:38:38 | |
for this major intelligence-led operation. | 0:38:38 | 0:38:41 | |
The objective is to seize documentation and computers, | 0:38:41 | 0:38:46 | |
and also, any relevant vehicles which have been involved in | 0:38:46 | 0:38:49 | |
any sort of tachograph fraud. | 0:38:49 | 0:38:51 | |
When the team arrives at the yard, | 0:38:52 | 0:38:54 | |
every single one of the firm's lorries will have to be examined | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
to see whether they contain electronic devices | 0:38:57 | 0:38:59 | |
used to create fake records. | 0:38:59 | 0:39:02 | |
With months in the planning, this is the biggest operation | 0:39:04 | 0:39:07 | |
of its kind in Northern Ireland. | 0:39:07 | 0:39:09 | |
-Hello? -Hello! | 0:39:09 | 0:39:12 | |
Hello, it's the police, we've got a warrant to search the premises. | 0:39:12 | 0:39:14 | |
Can you open the gate, please? | 0:39:14 | 0:39:16 | |
Could you open it up, please?! | 0:39:16 | 0:39:18 | |
The team are in and waste no time getting down to business. | 0:39:19 | 0:39:22 | |
Each cab has to be searched to see if it contains | 0:39:23 | 0:39:26 | |
a tachograph interrupter device which could lead to fake readings. | 0:39:26 | 0:39:30 | |
DVA tachograph expert Mickey McGuinness | 0:39:32 | 0:39:34 | |
starts stripping down the lorries. | 0:39:34 | 0:39:37 | |
For a start, pull the fuse box out. | 0:39:37 | 0:39:39 | |
A feel of where the loom... | 0:39:39 | 0:39:42 | |
What he's looking for is any additional wiring | 0:39:42 | 0:39:45 | |
coming in or out of the tachograph recording unit, | 0:39:45 | 0:39:48 | |
which is located behind the speedometer. | 0:39:48 | 0:39:51 | |
They've been cut. This has been cut. | 0:39:52 | 0:39:55 | |
It appears Mickey's arrived a little too late. | 0:39:56 | 0:39:59 | |
He suspects the tachograph faking device has been removed, | 0:39:59 | 0:40:03 | |
sparking fears their operation may have been rumbled. | 0:40:03 | 0:40:06 | |
It looks like there may have been one at another time. | 0:40:06 | 0:40:10 | |
The armoured cable looks fairly fresh, | 0:40:10 | 0:40:12 | |
as if it has been replaced at a stage. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:14 | |
But it's not over yet. | 0:40:14 | 0:40:17 | |
In another lorry, Mickey thinks he's found something. | 0:40:17 | 0:40:20 | |
There are two wires protruding from the back of the tachograph | 0:40:20 | 0:40:24 | |
that shouldn't be there. | 0:40:24 | 0:40:26 | |
Bingo. He's found what looks like | 0:40:26 | 0:40:28 | |
evidence of a tampered tachograph recorder. | 0:40:28 | 0:40:31 | |
Wires have been added to the back panel and a switch installed | 0:40:33 | 0:40:36 | |
that could allow the unit to be turned off. | 0:40:36 | 0:40:38 | |
We have traced the wires back further in | 0:40:38 | 0:40:42 | |
and, on removing this part of the panel, | 0:40:42 | 0:40:45 | |
this wiring here is connected to just an ordinary looking switch. | 0:40:45 | 0:40:50 | |
This is what's known as a tachograph interrupter device. | 0:40:50 | 0:40:52 | |
By flicking this switch, | 0:40:54 | 0:40:55 | |
the driver can start creating a fake tachograph chart. | 0:40:55 | 0:40:59 | |
This means that the driver can drive for longer than he's permitted. | 0:40:59 | 0:41:03 | |
In another lorry, PC Mike Rennie's found a stash of tachograph charts. | 0:41:05 | 0:41:10 | |
We have a box of previous tachographs. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:14 | |
It gives us a rough idea of the driver's movements. | 0:41:14 | 0:41:18 | |
The trace that's shown at the end of the pen would be a speed trace. | 0:41:18 | 0:41:22 | |
That tells us how fast the vehicle was going. | 0:41:22 | 0:41:24 | |
Then we have the mode trace | 0:41:24 | 0:41:25 | |
that tells us what the driver's been doing. | 0:41:25 | 0:41:27 | |
These charts could contain crucial evidence in the case. | 0:41:27 | 0:41:32 | |
Investigators will compare these against records seized | 0:41:32 | 0:41:35 | |
from the firm's office to determine whether the devices have been used. | 0:41:35 | 0:41:38 | |
If the driver uses a device, that's the line, | 0:41:38 | 0:41:42 | |
that's the trace we would see there, the vehicle at rest, | 0:41:42 | 0:41:45 | |
when in fact, the vehicle has been moving. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:47 | |
In that situation, a driver could work | 0:41:47 | 0:41:49 | |
until his heart's content, whilst producing a fake tachograph chart | 0:41:49 | 0:41:53 | |
to fool the authorities if he was stopped. | 0:41:53 | 0:41:56 | |
Meanwhile, Mickey's found | 0:41:56 | 0:41:57 | |
what he thinks could be an interrupter device. | 0:41:57 | 0:42:00 | |
Can you space those? There's two going to this switch here. | 0:42:00 | 0:42:03 | |
You see that one there? | 0:42:04 | 0:42:06 | |
Oh, that looks like it. That looks like one, all right. | 0:42:06 | 0:42:09 | |
With another device in the bag, | 0:42:10 | 0:42:11 | |
the team is quickly putting the brakes on this faking operation. | 0:42:11 | 0:42:15 | |
Over in the offices, the financial investigation team | 0:42:15 | 0:42:18 | |
has bagged and tagged the firm's computers and driver paperwork, | 0:42:18 | 0:42:22 | |
which will also be analysed as part of the investigation. | 0:42:22 | 0:42:26 | |
We have tachograph charts in the bag. | 0:42:26 | 0:42:28 | |
That's relating to the drivers' hours. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:31 | |
Also relating to vehicle movements, distances the vehicle's travelled. | 0:42:31 | 0:42:35 | |
There'll be tachographs relating to every vehicle | 0:42:35 | 0:42:37 | |
that we've seized today, | 0:42:37 | 0:42:39 | |
so there's a good bit of evidence contained within the bags. | 0:42:39 | 0:42:43 | |
After combing a number of cabs, | 0:42:43 | 0:42:45 | |
the DVA have found six lorries that they suspect are faking it. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:49 | |
They take them into custody, | 0:42:49 | 0:42:51 | |
where they'll be stripped back by forensic experts at a later date. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:54 | |
An operation of this sort, you never really know | 0:42:54 | 0:42:57 | |
what you're going to find. | 0:42:57 | 0:42:59 | |
But, yes, there's more than was anticipated, | 0:42:59 | 0:43:01 | |
but again, it's a good day to get these vehicles off the road. | 0:43:01 | 0:43:04 | |
That's all from Fake Britain. Goodbye. | 0:43:09 | 0:43:11 |