:00:00. > :00:00.Next on BBC One Gloria Hunniford, Angela Rippon and Julia Somerville
:00:00. > :00:15.are standing by ready to tackle all your consumer problems.
:00:16. > :00:20.Every morning we are here lies investigating the stories you have
:00:21. > :00:22.asked us to look into on your behalf.
:00:23. > :00:28.We are looking forward to that. We are kicking off with how fraudsters
:00:29. > :00:34.helped themselves to my savings. Question is, how safe is your cash?
:00:35. > :00:37.We asked you to tell us what is in you -- what is leaving you feeling
:00:38. > :00:41.ripped off. You told us about the company using
:00:42. > :00:45.get it wrong and the customer service which simply isn't up to
:00:46. > :00:48.scratch. When you have to call them it takes ages. Some of the other
:00:49. > :00:52.answers the phone and they don't know what you are saying. The
:00:53. > :00:55.customer isn't benefiting and I'm not getting value for money. You've
:00:56. > :00:58.asked us to track down the scammers who stole your money and investigate
:00:59. > :01:03.the extra charges you say are unfair. They don't deserve to be in
:01:04. > :01:08.any form of business whatsoever, they just want shutting down. And
:01:09. > :01:14.when nobody else is to blame you come to us to help others do not
:01:15. > :01:17.fall into the same trap. They took the money out of my account and I
:01:18. > :01:21.don't even know who's camped me. Whether it is a blatant rip-off or a
:01:22. > :01:25.genuine mistake, we're here to find out why you are out of pocket on
:01:26. > :01:30.what you can do about it. Your stories, your money, this is
:01:31. > :01:34.Rip Off Britain: Live. Good morning and thank you for
:01:35. > :01:38.joining us for a brand new series of the Rip Off Britain: Live. Good to
:01:39. > :01:42.have you. This is one of our most favourite times of the year.
:01:43. > :01:47.Absolutely. Adrenaline pumping. Delighted to be back to talk about
:01:48. > :01:49.the issues you say matter most to you.
:01:50. > :01:53.That could be anything from a dodgy energy bill to an elaborate scam.
:01:54. > :01:56.Our team of experts are fantastic, they are keen as mustard to help you
:01:57. > :02:01.out. We are alive, which means you can
:02:02. > :02:06.get in touch with us right away while we are on the air.
:02:07. > :02:13.Please do send us your questions, comments, and your tips. We will be
:02:14. > :02:16.sharing some of your ideas on giving cold callers the cold shoulder later
:02:17. > :02:20.on. Also coming up, after my own recent
:02:21. > :02:24.experience I have been finding out if banks are doing all they can to
:02:25. > :02:29.keep our money safe. Believe me, I have very strong views about that.
:02:30. > :02:33.You can believe that. He may be one of the nicest men in broadcasting,
:02:34. > :02:37.but Jeremy Vine is going to tell me how he has found the perfect way to
:02:38. > :02:41.complain about bad service. Good for him. And back by popular
:02:42. > :02:46.demand, our one-stop pop up shop where our experts will have advice
:02:47. > :02:53.for you. We have our finance Guru. And our
:02:54. > :02:58.technology with David MacLennan. Send them your questions.
:02:59. > :03:02.A busy morning ahead of us, clearly. First, given the amount of scams we
:03:03. > :03:07.expose on this programme it's no surprise to hear that financial
:03:08. > :03:11.fraud went up by over 50% in the first six months of this year.
:03:12. > :03:14.But, as we know from the hundreds of people who get in touch with us
:03:15. > :03:18.every year, behind every statistic is a very personal story.
:03:19. > :03:24.Very personal, because this one is mine!
:03:25. > :03:32.As a presenter I've reported on just about every sort of scamming -- scam
:03:33. > :03:35.imaginable. And hearing those affected and the devastating impact
:03:36. > :03:40.the scams have on people's lives has certainly made me extra vigilant.
:03:41. > :03:44.So, the last thing I expected was to find myself on the other side of the
:03:45. > :03:48.story when I had part of my life savings stolen from the place where
:03:49. > :03:54.I thought they would be most safe. This is my local bank in Kent where
:03:55. > :04:00.I live. I thought my savings were tucked up very nicely in a savings
:04:01. > :04:04.account which I had not touched for nearly two years. But it turned out
:04:05. > :04:08.it was easier for complete strangers at a different branch of this bank
:04:09. > :04:13.to get my money than it is for me to get my money. In June last year, 30
:04:14. > :04:22.miles away from Croydon, three people found a way to corrupt part
:04:23. > :04:25.of my savings which amounted to ?120,000. Not by a sophisticated
:04:26. > :04:28.scam, but by walking in off the street with a fake ID and a made up
:04:29. > :04:37.story. According to the woman claiming to be me she said she had a
:04:38. > :04:41.few bob in the bank but had been ill. She wanted her grandson to be a
:04:42. > :04:44.co-signatories so he could draw money from my account. She then
:04:45. > :04:52.presented a fake driving licence and a bank card and that was that. --
:04:53. > :04:57.co-signatory. The group had almost instant access to my savings. The
:04:58. > :05:01.newspapers referred to this woman athlete Gloria lookalike, which
:05:02. > :05:05.actually I found very funny. As somebody said online, I think Gloria
:05:06. > :05:08.should be more worried about the lookalike band the money. But I
:05:09. > :05:12.think you can agree that she looks nothing like me. Not in a million
:05:13. > :05:16.years would I expect everybody to know who I am and what I look like.
:05:17. > :05:20.I totally get that you don't have to dress up in order to look like
:05:21. > :05:24.somebody to impersonate them. But I would expect that the banks would
:05:25. > :05:27.carry out stringent security checks before they literally handed over
:05:28. > :05:35.tens of thousands of pounds to a stranger. Within a short time of
:05:36. > :05:39.leaving the bank, they began a huge spending spree buying ?80,000 worth
:05:40. > :05:44.of luxury watches as well as clothes. The question I keep asking
:05:45. > :05:48.myself, why was it so easy for somebody else to get their hands on
:05:49. > :05:54.my money when I have to jump through so many security hoops when I forget
:05:55. > :05:57.a password? Even if I go up to take out and I said, I have to bring my
:05:58. > :06:07.passport on various pieces of identity. -- if I go to take out a
:06:08. > :06:12.ISA. If my husband went in asking to be a co-signatory they would say it
:06:13. > :06:15.would not work like that, but it did work though strangers. The man who
:06:16. > :06:23.posed as the grandson, 18-year-old Alan Dowie, received a sentence. The
:06:24. > :06:27.judge said he hadn't received a penny piece out of the crime and
:06:28. > :06:32.accepted that he was a dude in the scam. And a fourth person, another
:06:33. > :06:37.18-year-old, pleaded guilty to laundering some of my money.
:06:38. > :06:40.However, police are still appealing for information that would lead to
:06:41. > :06:44.the rest of my so-called lookalike and her daughter. That was one of
:06:45. > :06:47.the worst things for me because sadly I don't have my daughter, she
:06:48. > :06:52.lost her battle with cancer 12 years ago, and that really hurt. Because
:06:53. > :06:56.this was so obviously a fraud I wasn't able to get all of my money
:06:57. > :07:03.back but really that isn't the point. It is the principal. -- I was
:07:04. > :07:08.able. Personally I have lost all faith in banks. My big question is,
:07:09. > :07:14.are they really doing enough to keep every customer's money safe? That is
:07:15. > :07:22.exactly the question these two are asking. Just three months ago they
:07:23. > :07:26.were the target of a very similar crime. And I find out from a fraud
:07:27. > :07:31.expert whether banks are protecting us as well as they should. Losses
:07:32. > :07:34.from bank accounts, people sending money off to scams runs into
:07:35. > :07:40.hundreds of millions, if not billions. Fraud is enormous.
:07:41. > :07:45.That is a story that has shocked thousands of people who have been
:07:46. > :07:47.aware of it. I think that film demonstrates that it throws up more
:07:48. > :07:51.questions than answers. It does. It's very disturbing. The
:07:52. > :07:57.more you question it the more disturbed you get. It disturbs me
:07:58. > :08:02.that two of the people are still missing. It was the scammer's bank
:08:03. > :08:06.that alerted it, not my own bank. Bearing in mind that money has been
:08:07. > :08:10.locked away and I haven't touched it the two years, wouldn't you think if
:08:11. > :08:14.unusual activity came up on it that my bank would ring me. But it was
:08:15. > :08:17.the fraudster's bank who got in contact.
:08:18. > :08:20.That is what you would expect. Santander SA they take fraud
:08:21. > :08:27.seriously and it is constantly reviewing its policies and systems
:08:28. > :08:31.to prevent it. -- Santander say. They say regrettably in this case
:08:32. > :08:37.its procedures were not followed. I'll say! Allowing it to occur. It
:08:38. > :08:40.is sorry for the inconvenience and stress it caused, but stresses that
:08:41. > :08:44.any customer who is the victim of fraud through no fault of their own
:08:45. > :08:48.will not lose out financially. How convinced you that the bank is doing
:08:49. > :08:52.something to protect people's money? I'm not at all. I'm now suspicious
:08:53. > :08:57.or banks. Now I don't know where to put my money. Santander rang me up,
:08:58. > :09:00.and I had been calling them endlessly to get information, but
:09:01. > :09:05.they took me into the bank to show me their new technology in the
:09:06. > :09:11.morning. But this is 2016, why are you putting it in now after my scam,
:09:12. > :09:16.because it got high publicity, why did you not do it before? UV light,
:09:17. > :09:22.which was stated in the High Court, it doesn't prevent anything. Yet
:09:23. > :09:26.they took that as security. They said that the correct procedures
:09:27. > :09:30.were not followed. The questions on the basic security forms were not
:09:31. > :09:33.completely filled in. Because the girl in the court said she was three
:09:34. > :09:38.months pregnant. That was the excuse. Many questions.
:09:39. > :09:42.I think we can all tell that you are really distressed by this.
:09:43. > :09:46.I am. My youngest said you have got your money back, while you worried?
:09:47. > :09:50.I said of course I am worried, I make my money on covering scams.
:09:51. > :09:53.It's the principle. Exactly. We would like to know what
:09:54. > :09:56.you think about that story. Keep your comments coming because we
:09:57. > :10:01.would like to read them out. It is through your e-mails and
:10:02. > :10:05.letters that we get a sense of the things that really irritate you the
:10:06. > :10:09.most. If there is one topic that leaves you especially steamed up, it
:10:10. > :10:14.is the dreaded cold callers. It annoys all of us. You are an
:10:15. > :10:17.imaginative bunch. It seems some of you give as good as you get whenever
:10:18. > :10:24.the phone rings and it is somebody unwelcome on the other end.
:10:25. > :10:29.Currently I'm using dog's names. They asked for my name and I call
:10:30. > :10:39.myself Jack Russell. Sorry, I don't live here, I am a decorator. My name
:10:40. > :10:47.is Mr Powell Satian. I say in an exotic country and they normally
:10:48. > :10:51.hang up on me. -- Mr Al Satian. It appears that you are an inventive
:10:52. > :10:55.bunch. They are not only annoying but can also lead to many of the
:10:56. > :10:59.rip-offs you tell us about. Whatever the tactic we are pleased to hear
:11:00. > :11:03.you are fighting back. There is a long way to go. The body that
:11:04. > :11:06.regulates marketing calls, the information Commissioner 's office,
:11:07. > :11:15.typically receives more than 14,000 complaints every month. One man who
:11:16. > :11:19.is fighting back is businessman Lee Beaumont. After being plagued with
:11:20. > :11:23.constant calls he has come up with a rather extreme way of dealing with
:11:24. > :11:28.them. And it is even making him money. He set up a second phone line
:11:29. > :11:33.with a premium rate number. Whenever he has asked for his details on
:11:34. > :11:38.anything which might lead to an unsolicited marketing call it is the
:11:39. > :11:41.0871 number he gives out. What was winding me up is that they would
:11:42. > :11:45.call me no matter what time of day it was. Even in the evening. I
:11:46. > :11:51.wanted them to stop. I thought there must be a way to get them to stop.
:11:52. > :11:56.He went online to find out ways to end the nuisance calls. I just
:11:57. > :12:00.searched on the Internet. I did a bit of reading up on it. I realised
:12:01. > :12:06.I could buy a premium rate number very cheaply. He paid ?10 to set up
:12:07. > :12:11.his own premium rate line, which meant he had an de Witt 71 number.
:12:12. > :12:21.So to call him would now cost the caller 10p per minute. -- he had an
:12:22. > :12:26.0871 number. I hated the cause of Italy. Now I enjoy them because
:12:27. > :12:34.every time they call me I am making money. At the start my calls dropped
:12:35. > :12:38.dramatically. -- I hated the calls originally. For me it was the best
:12:39. > :12:44.of both worlds. His premium rate line has made him almost ?4000. It
:12:45. > :12:50.won't make me a millionaire. I am not quitting my job. But the
:12:51. > :12:54.difference is I'm not getting annoyed every time they ring me. I
:12:55. > :13:02.am enjoying it. If you are thinking of doing something similar, however,
:13:03. > :13:05.a word of warning... There is a regulator which requires anybody
:13:06. > :13:09.operating a premium rate number to make it clear to callers how much
:13:10. > :13:13.they are being charged for the call. That is what he does. If you didn't
:13:14. > :13:18.he would soon fall foul of the authorities. -- if he didn't. But
:13:19. > :13:27.there are far more Orthodox ways of fighting back. All right, mum? OK.
:13:28. > :13:30.12 months ago we told the story of Kath, who was being bombarded with
:13:31. > :13:36.cold calls. Sometimes receiving more than 100 per month. She was getting
:13:37. > :13:43.lots of pestering phone calls from various companies like PPI. Very
:13:44. > :13:47.pressurised. And she is vulnerable and old. By fitting her phone with a
:13:48. > :13:50.call blocking device which would only allow numbers through a
:13:51. > :13:56.preapproved list we had a very positive result. Steve Smith owns a
:13:57. > :14:05.company called true call and is the brains behind the technology. Over
:14:06. > :14:10.the last here it blocked 277 unwonted calls for Kath. That is two
:14:11. > :14:14.per day. We checked back through the logs to see which companies were
:14:15. > :14:19.phoning her and they were all of the usual suspects. PPI course, accident
:14:20. > :14:24.claims, the surveys, the vitamin pills. Many trading standards
:14:25. > :14:27.officers loaned out his box free of charge to people like Cathy 's lives
:14:28. > :14:38.are being made a misery by unwonted phone calls. -- like Kath whose
:14:39. > :14:42.lives. In May it was made illegal requirement that marketing companies
:14:43. > :14:47.registered in the UK must display their phone numbers, even if their
:14:48. > :14:48.call centres are abroad. Making it easier for us to spot a nuisance
:14:49. > :14:57.call. If you get a call that hasn't got a
:14:58. > :15:02.caller ID shown, and it is a marketing call, make a note of their
:15:03. > :15:06.details and you can then report to them. So if you are cursed by cold
:15:07. > :15:11.callers, make sure you do something to fight back. Of course you can
:15:12. > :15:16.just hang up or there is scope to be a little bit more creative. I kept
:15:17. > :15:21.getting phone calls about an accident I had two years ago, which
:15:22. > :15:25.I hadn't had. So I told them it was fatal and I died! She put the phone
:15:26. > :15:34.down on me rather than me putting it down on them! They never rang back.
:15:35. > :15:38.I wonder why! I like their style! As it happens, scams are making
:15:39. > :15:46.headlines today. Look at this one, a mountain of scam letters. The
:15:47. > :15:50.heartbroken son of a mother who lost thousands of pounds. Thankfully
:15:51. > :15:54.trading standards are launching back against the scammers with a new
:15:55. > :15:59.initiative to protect people most at risk. With me is Louise Baxter from
:16:00. > :16:03.the trading standards scam team and also Tina Stewart, who has stepped
:16:04. > :16:07.in to help a lot of people in her neighbourhood. What is behind this
:16:08. > :16:18.idea? We have launched a campaign called
:16:19. > :16:24.Scams... It Is About Talking Back If You Have Been Scammed And Getting
:16:25. > :16:30.Neighbours To Be Nosy. I Am Interested In The Word Shame Because
:16:31. > :16:35.It Is Interesting that people think it has happened to them but it could
:16:36. > :16:39.happen to everyone. People have got to remember it is a crime. Scam is
:16:40. > :16:42.the wrong word. It is a crime. People should not be ashamed that
:16:43. > :16:47.they have been targeted by a criminal and fallen victim to a
:16:48. > :16:54.crime. And it is the fact it happens in their own home and this is what
:16:55. > :16:57.you brought you into this. Yes, I'll had an elderly neighbour who was
:16:58. > :17:01.getting letters from the Irish lottery and the Spanish lottery and
:17:02. > :17:04.he lost a lot of money. We took him to trading standards and he did not
:17:05. > :17:10.believe he was being scammed at first but in time needed. He lost a
:17:11. > :17:15.lot money. You had to persuade him? He thought he was going to win all
:17:16. > :17:20.this money. In the end we were able to persuade him and help him. You do
:17:21. > :17:24.other things, don't you? Yes, I go round and I help my neighbours and I
:17:25. > :17:29.give talks to the WRI and whoever invites me, we will help. This is
:17:30. > :17:36.just an example of the way word is being spread in the community.
:17:37. > :17:43.Absolutely. Friends Against Scams, Tina would be a champion for us,
:17:44. > :17:47.spreading the word about scamming and taking a stand against it.
:17:48. > :17:52.Knowledge is power. We want to hear from you if you know of anyone like
:17:53. > :17:57.Tina who is known locally as being some kind of consumer champion,
:17:58. > :18:01.whether it is identifying scammers or helping people with their utility
:18:02. > :18:05.bills. Let us know who they are and better yet sent as a photograph and
:18:06. > :18:09.we will catch up with some of them later in the week, with a bit of
:18:10. > :18:13.luck. What a good job they are doing. This week our team of experts
:18:14. > :18:15.is here to tackle your consumer problems, no matter how big or small
:18:16. > :18:45.and I love that. It is all live and they are literally outside.
:18:46. > :18:48.Angela is out there getting things started. Come and see us if you
:18:49. > :18:51.want. Thank you, Gloria. We are already getting stuck in and we have
:18:52. > :18:52.a fistful of experts fear. The financial advice service, the
:18:53. > :18:54.financial ombudsman service, along with our finance expert Sarah
:18:55. > :18:57.Pebbles and technology man David McClelland. Our inbox is always full
:18:58. > :19:00.of people who have been caught out by a scam. And this man has been on
:19:01. > :19:03.the receiving end of a nasty one. Yes, a Microsoft support scam. You
:19:04. > :19:05.get a cold call from a trusted service provider telling you your
:19:06. > :19:08.computer has been hacked and the sinister twist here is they told you
:19:09. > :19:10.there was a legal stuff on your machine and convinced you to part
:19:11. > :19:13.with money. Did you pay them? Originally I parted with ?2.90,
:19:14. > :19:20.which I thought would be a good price to pay to get rid of the
:19:21. > :19:23.unwanted material, but unfortunately it didn't end there. How much did
:19:24. > :19:30.you end up paying? Within the hour they took another ?840. Flipping
:19:31. > :19:33.heck! How can we avoid this happening? Any incoming phone calls
:19:34. > :19:39.purporting to be from Microsoft, internet service provider, whoever
:19:40. > :19:46.else, treat them as toxic and a big lump of lies. You are in safe hands
:19:47. > :19:49.here. David Creswell is from the financial ombudsman service. David,
:19:50. > :19:53.are you aware of an increase in the number of complaints against banks?
:19:54. > :19:57.Far more people are coming to us as soon as they discover, when they get
:19:58. > :20:01.that gut-wrenching realisation that it has gone wrong. But interestingly
:20:02. > :20:04.more people are coming with problems and concerns in the months
:20:05. > :20:07.afterwards when they realise how long it will take to sort out the
:20:08. > :20:14.fallout of things like this going wrong. Can you sort it out for them?
:20:15. > :20:17.That is our job, to call the banks to account to find out what happens.
:20:18. > :20:23.Stay at its! No pop-up would be complete without a personal finance
:20:24. > :20:27.expert, Sarah Pebbles, and she is here with a retired fire man, an
:20:28. > :20:36.old. He had had a problem with one of his power supplies. -- Noel. Yes,
:20:37. > :20:45.we have heard about this lots of times. Noel was with NPower and the
:20:46. > :20:52.problem occurred when they mixed up the day and night readings. They
:20:53. > :20:56.said they would sort it out and he switched in the meantime to another
:20:57. > :21:01.supplier. They produced a final bill and they said they owed him ?2800.
:21:02. > :21:05.That must have given you some sleepless nights! It certainly has.
:21:06. > :21:09.I am trying to get my son through university and we have just come
:21:10. > :21:16.back from a family holiday and we have Christmas coming up. It was an
:21:17. > :21:19.unfussy bill of nearly ?3000 and a demand to pay within two weeks, so
:21:20. > :21:24.if you sleepless nights. Especially when it was their fault. But there
:21:25. > :21:29.is a happy end to this. Funnily enough, when we got involved, NPower
:21:30. > :21:32.looked at it and Noel owes them ?1400 and they got the wrong
:21:33. > :21:37.information from the professional meter reader. As a goodwill gesture
:21:38. > :21:39.they will write off the ?1400 and he doesn't owe them a penny. They have
:21:40. > :21:54.been in trouble before for wrong bills and
:21:55. > :21:57.not handling complaints. This time last year they were fined ?26
:21:58. > :22:00.million by the regulator. It is worth keeping an eye on your bills.
:22:01. > :22:03.I am glad we got a good outcome for you. That is the power of Rip Off
:22:04. > :22:06.Britain. Back to you, Gloria. We love it when we get results on your
:22:07. > :22:09.behalf. We have been trying to do that all week and we will get great
:22:10. > :22:11.results all round, I am sure. All the stories we investigate actually
:22:12. > :22:15.come from you, your letters and emails. This is the latest on two of
:22:16. > :22:21.the most memorable cases from our recent series. A few weeks ago we
:22:22. > :22:25.revealed how an awful lot of us could be driving the wrong type of
:22:26. > :22:32.car. One third of UK motorists have a diesel. But if you mostly do stop
:22:33. > :22:40.start town based driving, that is not the best option. Diesel cars are
:22:41. > :22:44.not suitable for lots of short journeys. Dealers need to make sure
:22:45. > :22:48.they understand what type of driving their customers are doing and then
:22:49. > :22:51.make the appropriate recommendation. But when Gerald Williams from
:22:52. > :22:58.Wrexham bought a brand-new diesel Ford focus, he said that wasn't his
:22:59. > :23:03.experience at all. There wasn't much conversation in that area, whether
:23:04. > :23:07.to buy petrol or diesel. It was just recommended, this car here. It was
:23:08. > :23:11.only after an engine warning light came on that Gerald discovered a
:23:12. > :23:17.problem common to most modern diesels. If you don't strive them
:23:18. > :23:22.far enough, a filter installed to reduce emissions can get clogged. If
:23:23. > :23:25.you have bought a diesel and you get the warning lights coming on, you
:23:26. > :23:29.must take it for a decent run and get lots of engine revs to clear the
:23:30. > :23:33.filter and you won't have problems. But Gerald is adamant that when he
:23:34. > :23:40.bought the car, he told the sales staff how many miles he typically
:23:41. > :23:45.drives and they still recommended a diesel. I do feel I was mis-sold it.
:23:46. > :23:49.I am not saying it was deliberate, not intentionally done, but I do
:23:50. > :23:54.believe I was mis-sold. The Evans house or dealership told us they
:23:55. > :23:57.cannot comment on what was said to Gerald because the salesperson is no
:23:58. > :24:02.longer with the company but after we filmed with him, there was good news
:24:03. > :24:06.for Gerald. The company told us that with the assistance of Ford Credit,
:24:07. > :24:11.they have reversed the vehicle deal, and as a result Gerald walked away
:24:12. > :24:19.with the ?17,000 refund that he used to buy this petrol car. There has
:24:20. > :24:24.been no such happy ending for one of the most shocking stories from our
:24:25. > :24:31.latest series. Jackie had to run for her life and then watch as her home
:24:32. > :24:33.went from this to this. The whole house collapsed after builders
:24:34. > :24:38.started work on converting the basement of the ground floor flat. I
:24:39. > :24:45.just think we were in shock, all of us. Just watching it unfold. We had
:24:46. > :24:51.to stand on the street and watch it disintegrate. What made it worse was
:24:52. > :24:55.that Jackie and her partner thought they had done all they could to find
:24:56. > :25:00.a builder they could trust, choosing one signed up to the federation of
:25:01. > :25:04.master builders, checking references, and even making sure he
:25:05. > :25:08.had got the right insurance. We lost everything. It was just taken away
:25:09. > :25:13.in skits as we were watching and there was no way to retrieve it. We
:25:14. > :25:16.were not allowed back in. The couple has since won a court case proving
:25:17. > :25:23.the builder was at fault but his insurance company has refused to pay
:25:24. > :25:26.out, saying the builder broke the terms of his cover. We are really no
:25:27. > :25:33.further forward than the day it collapsed. We know we were not at
:25:34. > :25:36.fault, we know who was at fault, but financially we are in the same
:25:37. > :25:41.position. Actually, worse off than we were when it first happened. To
:25:42. > :25:44.top it all, Jackie and head are stuck with 23 years of mortgage
:25:45. > :25:52.repayments on a property they cannot even live in. We have got ?125,000
:25:53. > :25:58.left to play. There is not much else we can do really. Jackie is still
:25:59. > :26:03.hoping to find a solution but in the meantime, several of you have been
:26:04. > :26:07.in touch offering to help. One viewer has said he would be willing
:26:08. > :26:11.to buy the plot of land and build a new house at his own expense. A
:26:12. > :26:15.group of builders contacted us offering to rebuild the house and
:26:16. > :26:19.supply the materials for free. But it remains very hard to understand
:26:20. > :26:30.why it has been so difficult for this whole mess to be sorted out.
:26:31. > :26:34.Yes, I have got to say that is one of the most upsetting cases I have
:26:35. > :26:38.ever covered. That is a horror story about the kindness of strangers is
:26:39. > :26:41.wonderful. What would frustrate me the most is there does not seem to
:26:42. > :26:45.be an answer at the moment and that must drive you crazy when you think
:26:46. > :26:51.about what they have lost. Meanwhile lots of consumer stories making the
:26:52. > :26:55.news today. The energy companies, with the headline saying the big six
:26:56. > :26:59.explored the loopholes so you don't get a good deal. New customers get
:27:00. > :27:04.the good deals and loyal people like ourselves don't get the benefit of
:27:05. > :27:08.that, so not good. Chase them up. Loyalty counts for nothing. From the
:27:09. > :27:13.sublime to the ridiculous, at the other end of the scale there is
:27:14. > :27:20.outrage that chocolate Oranges are getting smaller! Shock horror! They
:27:21. > :27:25.are shrinking by 10%. That is outrageous! New figures have
:27:26. > :27:29.pinpointed who is apparently most at risk from so-called boiler room
:27:30. > :27:35.investment scams and guess who it is according to the Guardian newspaper?
:27:36. > :27:41.Men aged 65 and over. Women over 65 would never fall for that! And
:27:42. > :27:44.Gloria is in the Telegraph! No faith in banks after fraud and that is
:27:45. > :27:48.pretty clear after the stories we have been running today. And they
:27:49. > :27:54.are correct, no faith. It is not just me who has been targeted by
:27:55. > :27:59.fraud. I have heard of so many stories since. But how sure can any
:28:00. > :28:04.of us be that our money is safe in the bank? Earlier in the programme,
:28:05. > :28:08.we saw how a so-called lookalike led a group of fraudsters to raid my
:28:09. > :28:12.savings account. Bold as brass, they walked into the bank and convinced a
:28:13. > :28:16.member of staff to give them access to my money. I would like to think
:28:17. > :28:20.that was a one-off, but after hearing what happened to me,
:28:21. > :28:31.Jonathan Lovett and his wife got in touch with Rip Off
:28:32. > :28:35.Britain to say the very same thing happened to them. Like me, they were
:28:36. > :28:37.blissfully unaware that they have become the victims of fraud, until
:28:38. > :28:40.Barbie tried to use their debit card. I was driving home and I
:28:41. > :28:43.needed petrol, so I stopped and filled up the car and I went to pay
:28:44. > :28:49.with my joint account card, and it was declined. Then I went shopping
:28:50. > :28:53.to get some food, and the same thing happened again. It was only when
:28:54. > :28:57.Barbie arrived home and Jonathan checked their bank account online
:28:58. > :29:02.that the truth became clear. I started looking down and scrolling
:29:03. > :29:07.through the entries on the statement, and I saw ?5,000 and also
:29:08. > :29:12.?4000 had been taken out of the account. Then I saw that ?10,000 had
:29:13. > :29:15.been transferred from one account to another. I said this is
:29:16. > :29:21.extraordinary! This can't be happening. In the space of a few
:29:22. > :29:27.hours, the fraudsters had visited four separate branches of Barclays
:29:28. > :29:30.and somehow they had managed to make seven cash withdrawals, totalling
:29:31. > :29:34.?20,000, from the accounts. Desperate to stop them getting their
:29:35. > :29:38.hands on any more of their money, Jonathan immediately called the bank
:29:39. > :29:42.using the number on the back of his debit card. I explained what had
:29:43. > :29:48.happened and I was told I needed to be transferred to another number and
:29:49. > :29:54.it might take some time. Over the course of three and a half hours
:29:55. > :29:57.there was a sense here that we were maybe responsible for this, either
:29:58. > :30:02.because we had been negligent with the way we had used our cards and
:30:03. > :30:07.revealed our PIN numbers, or maybe that we were complicit in the fraud.
:30:08. > :30:10.Not only did we have the shock of losing the money but this situation
:30:11. > :30:16.where the bank thinks maybe you were part of the scam.
:30:17. > :30:21.During the process of reporting the theft they hit a brick wall when
:30:22. > :30:26.they failed to correctly answer some of the security questions. At about
:30:27. > :30:30.11pm we were left in limbo. The bank wouldn't talk to us any more. We
:30:31. > :30:35.have to wait until 10am the next morning to get into the local
:30:36. > :30:38.branch. We spent a sleepless night and turned up there like a couple of
:30:39. > :30:46.zombies. This woman came up to greet us. I think both of us in an
:30:47. > :30:50.emotional way said we've had ?20,000 stolen from our bank account and
:30:51. > :30:54.that is how the conversation began. The start of a pretty harrowing
:30:55. > :30:59.process to get the bank to admit the fraud had taken place and to make
:31:00. > :31:03.the repayment into our account. One week later Barclay's Bank credited
:31:04. > :31:09.their account with the ?20,000 which had been stolen, but the fraud case
:31:10. > :31:15.is still ongoing. We've never been given any explanation about how the
:31:16. > :31:18.fraud took place. None whatsoever. Who might have done it, how it was
:31:19. > :31:23.structured, how many people might be involved, or whatever. Even though
:31:24. > :31:27.it is something that happened to us. I don't feel happy about what has
:31:28. > :31:36.happened at all. And I don't feel confident that it won't happen
:31:37. > :31:41.again. We are thinking to ourselves, perhaps we ought to change our bank
:31:42. > :31:50.account, but then you think, to who? Where? Is it going to be any better?
:31:51. > :31:54.Fortunately the way in which we were both targeted is unusual, because
:31:55. > :31:59.the vast majority of people would not have the audacity to walk into a
:32:00. > :32:05.bank and clear out an account. Most fraud is done over the Internet by
:32:06. > :32:08.faceless cybercriminals. Even so, it seems that over-the-counter bank
:32:09. > :32:13.fraud is not as rare as we'd hoped. Just last week the professional now
:32:14. > :32:16.jockeys Association warned its members not to keep their money in
:32:17. > :32:21.high street banks after a string of thefts which saw around ?200,000
:32:22. > :32:30.stolen from jockeys' accounts. Again, probably using fake ID.
:32:31. > :32:33.Hello, lovely to see you. To see if the banks are doing enough to keep
:32:34. > :32:36.our money says, I'm meeting up with David Clarke, once one of the
:32:37. > :32:40.country's most senior fraud detectives are now part of the fraud
:32:41. > :32:45.advisory panel which works to prevent such crimes from happening.
:32:46. > :32:50.My account hasn't even been touched for nearly two years. Surely they
:32:51. > :32:55.would have had something to alert them to the fact that this was
:32:56. > :32:59.unusual activity. It does kind of say, there is something missing in
:33:00. > :33:03.between here. Seeing people walk into branches, it is an old trick
:33:04. > :33:09.that has come back. It needs to be blocked. In terms of the driving
:33:10. > :33:15.licence that was produced as identity, it was my details, name,
:33:16. > :33:18.address, but the fraudsters' photograph was on it. Now the police
:33:19. > :33:23.say that it was probably made in a sitting room somewhere in an
:33:24. > :33:29.upstairs bedroom, a complete fake. -- fraudster's photograph. How easy
:33:30. > :33:31.is it to get that kind of stuff? Tragically, very easy. With
:33:32. > :33:40.technology these days the ability to download from websites, fake utility
:33:41. > :33:44.bills, passports... I got this this morning, here is a P 60, a utility
:33:45. > :33:50.bill, a bank statement. They look authentic. They look real. These
:33:51. > :33:54.would be difficult for a professional to identify. They are
:33:55. > :33:57.excellent quality. This is what I fraudster needs to go in and open an
:33:58. > :34:05.account. I often say to people, the UK, we are some of the global
:34:06. > :34:10.leaders in technology. Some of the systems are excellent. But is that
:34:11. > :34:15.rolled out, who was not available to? Banks will have it for certain
:34:16. > :34:20.parts of their business. It works extremely well. Others won't. From
:34:21. > :34:25.your case, from what I've read, there was a suggestion that the lady
:34:26. > :34:29.put it under a UV light. Yes, in the Old Bailey she said that, is it a
:34:30. > :34:34.proper test? I don't know what the bank's particular requirements are.
:34:35. > :34:38.From what you've described, put it under a UV light, whether it is a
:34:39. > :34:45.driving licence or a utility bill, it is not enough. Would it be fair
:34:46. > :34:49.for me to say that banks with more money -- put more money into credit
:34:50. > :34:54.card fraud than they do with locked away accounts like mine? Losses from
:34:55. > :34:57.bank accounts, people sending money off discounts, runs into hundreds of
:34:58. > :35:03.millions, if not billions. The truth is we all lose. I am feeling
:35:04. > :35:07.vulnerable. My feeling is that banks are not putting enough training into
:35:08. > :35:14.their staff to insist that they do stringent checks. You are quite
:35:15. > :35:18.right. Preventing fraud is about, you know, getting these good
:35:19. > :35:23.practices into habitual behaviour. That is for the bank, the tellers,
:35:24. > :35:28.the people in the call centres, and customers. It is education. With
:35:29. > :35:32.some kind of financial scam committed every 15 seconds, it seems
:35:33. > :35:36.there is still a long way to go. Nobody wants to go back to the old
:35:37. > :35:39.days of putting your money in a shoe box and sticking it under the bed.
:35:40. > :35:43.But the banks are going to have to work very hard to convince me that
:35:44. > :35:49.they are keeping our money as safe as it should be. With all of the
:35:50. > :35:53.high-tech security and technology around these days, I still find it
:35:54. > :35:56.unbelievable that strangers could just walk in off the street, go into
:35:57. > :36:02.the bank and effectively just help themselves.
:36:03. > :36:09.It is an extraordinary story. Terrible. Barclay's Bank told us
:36:10. > :36:12.that while the correct decision was made to return the couple's money,
:36:13. > :36:16.they accept they could have handled the case better. They want to
:36:17. > :36:18.apologise to them and they reassured that they will learn from what
:36:19. > :36:21.happened. We asked the British bankers
:36:22. > :36:24.Association to come in and give us some reassurance on all of this, but
:36:25. > :36:29.unfortunately they said they didn't have anybody available this morning.
:36:30. > :36:37.It stressed that tackling fraud is a top priority. The banks stop ?7 in
:36:38. > :36:44.?10 of all attempts last year. -- stopped. They spent a lot of money
:36:45. > :36:49.on sophisticated equipment. They work closely with government and
:36:50. > :36:56.fraud agencies to try to stop all courts of fraud. -- sorts of fraud.
:36:57. > :37:00.The fact representative couldn't come in today tells me something.
:37:01. > :37:05.But I'm joined by barrister Stephen Mason who has written books on bank
:37:06. > :37:10.security. And also represented clients in cases against the banks.
:37:11. > :37:15.Do you think we, collectively, will ever feel safe with banks?
:37:16. > :37:19.It is debatable. Banks have to understand they are in the business
:37:20. > :37:30.of risk and controlling it. When I was on -- in bomb disposal, that is
:37:31. > :37:36.what we did. Is it bigger than what is being reported? It is. As a
:37:37. > :37:39.result of getting some figures from the commissioner at the Metropolitan
:37:40. > :37:44.Police in the City of London, I reckon there is at least 1.9 billion
:37:45. > :37:48.people affected who are not in the official figures. I have to laugh a
:37:49. > :37:53.bit when I hear statement saying we have the best technology possibly in
:37:54. > :37:58.the world. -- statements. Why are they not putting it in? In the end,
:37:59. > :38:04.it cost the bank money because I got the money back. Why don't they put
:38:05. > :38:08.the money into the technology? I can't answer that. With your
:38:09. > :38:11.particular example, what I find extraordinary is that you cannot
:38:12. > :38:16.rely on the document itself. It could be fraud, as we have seen. You
:38:17. > :38:20.should be double-checking where the document comes from. If you have a
:38:21. > :38:23.passport, there is no reason why the banks couldn't double-check with the
:38:24. > :38:28.passport office to check if it is legitimate. Elementary. Very pleased
:38:29. > :38:35.to have come in today. I think we might return to the subject. Thank
:38:36. > :38:38.you. You are welcome. If you have anything to say about banks, scams,
:38:39. > :38:44.or anything else, let us know about it. We will be catching up with your
:38:45. > :38:47.e-mails in a moment. First, all week we are revealing the consumer habits
:38:48. > :38:52.of some quite familiar faces. I can vouch for the fact that our
:38:53. > :38:56.first familiar face, belonging to Jeremy Vine, that he is a nice man
:38:57. > :39:01.but for somebody who comes across so amenable he is also extremely good
:39:02. > :39:07.at complaining. Let's go to the newsroom... He is the voice of Radio
:39:08. > :39:14.2's lunchtime radio news show. No election programme would be the same
:39:15. > :39:17.without him. In Wales, for example, when Labour are dominant... And he
:39:18. > :39:24.is the new face of BBC One's Crimewatch. Good evening and welcome
:39:25. > :39:29.to the programme... But how good is Jeremy at fighting his own corner as
:39:30. > :39:33.a consumer? You have this reputation as a tough interviewer. You take on
:39:34. > :39:38.heads of corporation. You take on MPs. You take on all sorts of
:39:39. > :39:41.people. What kind of things do you complain about? I think you should
:39:42. > :39:44.always complain with humour. You've got to make them enjoy the
:39:45. > :39:47.complaint. They need to put the complaint on their office wall. You
:39:48. > :39:52.need to complain with humour, always. I'm interested in the way
:39:53. > :39:59.you use your Twitter. You have over half a million followers. Do you see
:40:00. > :40:03.the Internet as a powerful tool in the hands of consumers? It is
:40:04. > :40:06.incredibly powerful. Twitter is like a notice board. You put up your
:40:07. > :40:11.tweet on the notice board, other people see it. If they decide to
:40:12. > :40:15.spread it you can find that a tweet from somebody who is pretty obscure
:40:16. > :40:20.suddenly goes viral, or gets spread everywhere. The customer now has the
:40:21. > :40:23.way back to the company. I was on a train once, I could see the tea
:40:24. > :40:29.trolley and it wasn't moving. I tweeted, looks like insert name of
:40:30. > :40:33.company, is thinking of installing their trolley in a museum. Because
:40:34. > :40:37.this thing isn't moving. Then a moment later I saw these two has
:40:38. > :40:45.pushed its trolley. It turned, lumbered towards me, and this man in
:40:46. > :40:52.a uniform said" was it you who tweeted, then? " And I just thought,
:40:53. > :40:54.wow, the power consumers have. Clearly you care a lot about
:40:55. > :41:04.consumer rights. What are your top tips? I have turned the whole thing
:41:05. > :41:07.around. I look for shops where there is bad service and I try to give
:41:08. > :41:13.them good customer presence. By doing what? I am friendly, cheerful,
:41:14. > :41:17.I say, I hope you're having a good day, look as if you are busy, I hope
:41:18. > :41:21.I haven't got in the way. I'm not being sarcastic. I just think, that
:41:22. > :41:27.spread some love. Does it pay off, do you get better service? Mostly
:41:28. > :41:32.not. But once in a while... CHUCKLES
:41:33. > :41:39.Thank you. Pleasure. He is a nice man. But it is the smile on the face
:41:40. > :41:42.of a tiger when he says that. As you can imagine, you have been
:41:43. > :41:46.sending in loads of your comments while we have been on the air,
:41:47. > :41:49.particularly about our banking story.
:41:50. > :41:52.I wonder why that is. Including comments from a lot of
:41:53. > :41:56.banking staff. We will pick up on those later in the week. First, a
:41:57. > :42:00.tweet from Linda Webb who says I think the banks should have a
:42:01. > :42:02.photograph of you on your system so they could check. How easy would
:42:03. > :42:07.that be? Simple.
:42:08. > :42:14.Barbara Richards asks where is the best place to put your money without
:42:15. > :42:20.good interest rate and -- with a good interest rate and where it is
:42:21. > :42:24.safe. The interest on ordinary account is about 1%. 2% if you lock
:42:25. > :42:28.it away for four years. Nothing to write home about. If you put some
:42:29. > :42:33.money into a current account some current accounts pay up to 5%, but
:42:34. > :42:41.only for a year, otherwise other accounts pay up to 1.5% for certain
:42:42. > :42:46.amounts. But do look out for FSC S, it protects up to ?75,000, but that
:42:47. > :42:53.could be with some banks who are in the same group so it is important to
:42:54. > :42:59.check. -- FSCS. Jeff Randall fumbled and asks why TV and Internet
:43:00. > :43:04.companies charge so much for installation when it is just a
:43:05. > :43:10.matter of plugging in a device. -- Jeff from Northumberland. I agree.
:43:11. > :43:14.My advice is to use your power as a consumer to haggle with them and
:43:15. > :43:18.say, well, another provider when charge me. All it is is flicking a
:43:19. > :43:26.switch, and if they don't budge, go to somebody else who will. Shop
:43:27. > :43:29.around. Absolutely. This is from Robert in King's Lynn, he says you
:43:30. > :43:34.mentioned in a programme about cold callers ringing you are, what about
:43:35. > :43:38.cold callers knocking on the door? Another big problem. Good news is
:43:39. > :43:42.you have better rights than he used. If they are trying to persuade you
:43:43. > :43:46.to sign up for a legitimate service, or something to buy, and it costs
:43:47. > :43:56.more than ?42, that is the magic figure, you 14 days -- you have 14
:43:57. > :44:00.days to cancel. But there are some rogues. In some areas with
:44:01. > :44:04.neighbourhood watch you can get a note cold calling zone. But if you
:44:05. > :44:07.get somebody trying to sell you something and they don't offer
:44:08. > :44:13.cancellation right, you can report them. Or slam the door in their
:44:14. > :44:18.face! LAUGHTER
:44:19. > :44:22.That is where we must leave it. It has flown by. We loved having your
:44:23. > :44:25.company and questions. We would do it all over again.
:44:26. > :44:30.And we will do it tomorrow with Ross Altman who will blow the whistle on
:44:31. > :44:40.what she really thinks about how the government has handled changes to
:44:41. > :44:42.women's pensions. -- Ros Altman. See you at 9:15am sharp.
:44:43. > :44:44.Goodbye.