:00:00. > :00:00.and Julia Somerville are standing by ready to tackle all
:00:00. > :00:08.Thanks, Dan and Louise and welcome once again to our special week
:00:09. > :00:13.where we've packed the next 45 minutes with umissable advice.
:00:14. > :00:15.on everything from contactless payment cards
:00:16. > :00:18.to an increasingly common way that email hackers can find themselves
:00:19. > :00:29.And as one man reveals, and horrendous identity programme that
:00:30. > :00:35.won't go away. Could the same thing happen to you? We asked you what you
:00:36. > :00:38.feel has ripped you off Angie contacted us in your thousands. You
:00:39. > :00:42.told us about the service that is not up to scratch. There should be
:00:43. > :00:50.looking after the customers and they don't. Loyalty to customers is a low
:00:51. > :00:54.priority. You asked us to track down the scammers who took your money and
:00:55. > :00:59.the extra charges that are unfair. Big corporations are more about the
:01:00. > :01:04.money than they are the people. When you have lost out and others are to
:01:05. > :01:08.blame, you have come to us to stop others falling into the same trap.
:01:09. > :01:15.It feels like I am being ripped off. So if it is a genuine mistake or a
:01:16. > :01:20.rip-off... We are here to find out why you are out of pocket and what
:01:21. > :01:25.you can do about it. Your stories, this is Rip Off Britain. Good
:01:26. > :01:30.morning to you and thanks for joining us once again for Rip Off
:01:31. > :01:35.Britain live. We are here to tackle all of your consumer gripes and
:01:36. > :01:39.problems head on. Already this week, we have had a fantastic response to
:01:40. > :01:42.the stories we have covered, so keep those comments and questions coming,
:01:43. > :01:47.we will catch up with some of them later on. It is easy to do, you can
:01:48. > :01:51.just e-mail us or you can find us on Facebook. Lots of you did exactly
:01:52. > :01:56.that yesterday and we have got other things that will get you fired up
:01:57. > :01:59.again today, not least a shocking new scam, fraudsters deliberately
:02:00. > :02:04.targeting home-buyers with absolutely devastating results.
:02:05. > :02:08.Shocking story. Also coming up, James Delaney may look like a family
:02:09. > :02:12.man from Lancashire but we find out why he has been mistaken for a man
:02:13. > :02:17.on the run in South America of all places. And these days, she is
:02:18. > :02:20.making the news on strictly, but today, Brexiters's Naga Munchetty
:02:21. > :02:27.gives us her best consumer tips and tells us why she hate shopping so
:02:28. > :02:34.much -- breakfast's. Now, when the tap at the going gets tough, the
:02:35. > :02:38.tough get shopping. Yesterday's pop-up was an absolute success and
:02:39. > :02:42.we managed to solve a problem for Siobhan, who had a problem with her
:02:43. > :02:48.car insurance. And it is all to play for as Gary Rycroft and Helen Wells
:02:49. > :02:54.from the financial ombudsman look after our consumer corner. First,
:02:55. > :02:58.when you are buying a new home, it is easy to be swept up in the
:02:59. > :03:03.excitement of colour schemes and new furnishing. But as we have learned
:03:04. > :03:06.time and time again, fraudsters are opportunists. And the sums of money
:03:07. > :03:10.involved in the sale of property accountant rapidly to provide them
:03:11. > :03:15.with the biggest opportunity of all. -- can provide them.
:03:16. > :03:19.With tens of thousands of pounds of state, you'd have the money involved
:03:20. > :03:22.in buying a new home would be, well, safe as houses, but when big sums of
:03:23. > :03:30.money are on the move electronically, computer hackers can
:03:31. > :03:35.be just one click away. Paul from Stoke knows that only too well. Only
:03:36. > :03:41.last year, he told Groupon how hijackers hijacked -- e-mails were
:03:42. > :03:45.hijacked between him and his solicitors during the sale of his
:03:46. > :03:52.property and they managed to steal an incredible ?333,000. Knowing that
:03:53. > :03:58.my e-mail accounts have been hacked just leaves you feeling on edge all
:03:59. > :04:03.the time. Though most of the money was recovered, Paul was still left
:04:04. > :04:07.?48,000 short. But cases like this are becoming increasingly common,
:04:08. > :04:12.with home-buyers now regularly targeted by fraudsters using exactly
:04:13. > :04:15.the same methods. In fact, last year, such scams increased by a
:04:16. > :04:25.staggering 71% and it's estimated that almost ?20 million has been
:04:26. > :04:29.stolen in this way. One of the latest to be stung is Amanda
:04:30. > :04:33.Jackson, who lives in Lisbon, Northern Ireland. When she separated
:04:34. > :04:40.from her husband, she needed to buy a new house for her self and her two
:04:41. > :04:43.daughters. I wanted a fresh start after being divorced, I wanted to
:04:44. > :04:48.look to the future as to where we were going to go. So we very much,
:04:49. > :04:53.as we family, looked at where we wanted to purchase. While she
:04:54. > :04:57.scoured the market, they moved in with Amanda's dad and she eventually
:04:58. > :05:03.found a house that seemed to take all the right boxes. It was a very
:05:04. > :05:07.nerve wracking time for me as a parent to try and encourage the
:05:08. > :05:14.children that it was going to be their dream house. On Thursday the
:05:15. > :05:17.1st of October last year, Amanda received an e-mail from her
:05:18. > :05:24.solicitors detailing the account name, number and sort code she said
:05:25. > :05:28.transfer funds to in order to complete the house out. However, a
:05:29. > :05:32.few hours later, before she had a chance to do that, she received a
:05:33. > :05:36.second e-mail which again appeared to be from the solicitor, saying the
:05:37. > :05:41.bank details she had been given were incorrect and went on to provide her
:05:42. > :05:45.with new account numbers. It seemed very normal and it was written in
:05:46. > :05:50.the same format as previous e-mails and it was allegedly from the same
:05:51. > :05:57.receptionist, with all the headers and footers as the previous e-mail,
:05:58. > :06:04.so I had no reason to doubt it at that point. To complete the
:06:05. > :06:08.purchase, Amanda needed to transfer almost ?80,000 to her solicitor and
:06:09. > :06:12.with so much money involved, she decided to physically go into her
:06:13. > :06:19.bank to transfer the cash, thinking it was a safer option than Internet
:06:20. > :06:22.banking. I chose not to do online transaction of the funds because it
:06:23. > :06:32.was such a huge amount of money and I thought that you had more security
:06:33. > :06:36.from going into the bank to complete the BACS transfer form. That was on
:06:37. > :06:41.a Friday and Amanda expected an e-mail from her solicitor can --
:06:42. > :06:44.solicitor to confirm they had the money. When she hadn't heard
:06:45. > :06:47.anything by Monday, she called them to find out was happen and vividly
:06:48. > :06:54.recalls every detail of that conversation. We are just checking,
:06:55. > :06:59.Amanda, to find out if your funds are in. I said, right, OK. They said
:07:00. > :07:03.can you give us ten minutes and Colback? So I drive home from work
:07:04. > :07:07.and I ring back and I say, I am really very concerned, I transferred
:07:08. > :07:12.my money on Friday, please can you confirm if you have received my
:07:13. > :07:15.funds? Amanda was horrified to be told that not only had no money come
:07:16. > :07:20.through, but the solicitors didn't have an account at the bank to which
:07:21. > :07:26.she had been told to transfer the money. At that point, I realised
:07:27. > :07:35.that my money had been sent to a fraudulent account or the wrong
:07:36. > :07:41.account and it was devastating. I literally crawled in through the
:07:42. > :07:47.door of my father's house, very upset and hysterical. Amanda
:07:48. > :07:52.immediately called the bank, desperately hoping it could get her
:07:53. > :07:55.money back. My recollection of that phone call is very blurred, but I
:07:56. > :08:04.just do remember the lady saying, could you just breed? Clearly, I was
:08:05. > :08:08.an -- in an hysterical state. They said they would look into it but if
:08:09. > :08:13.the money had been transferred on the Friday, it was unlikely they
:08:14. > :08:16.would be able to do anything. As she struggled to understand exactly how
:08:17. > :08:20.she could have been targeted, it became clear her e-mail account had
:08:21. > :08:24.been hacked, giving fraudsters access to every message she had sent
:08:25. > :08:29.and received. Ultimately, that had allowed them to send a fake e-mail
:08:30. > :08:33.posing as her solicitor and Amanda hadn't spotted one tiny difference
:08:34. > :08:41.in the e-mail address, a single letter. I didn't click on the e-mail
:08:42. > :08:47.sender and if I had, I would have realised that there was one letter
:08:48. > :08:51.missing from the solicitor's e-mail address. That was the only
:08:52. > :08:58.difference in the two e-mails, was that one had been sent from a new
:08:59. > :09:04.e-mail account that had been set up with one letter difference. Jason
:09:05. > :09:07.Hart is what is known as an ethical hacker who works with big
:09:08. > :09:11.organisations making sure they stay one step ahead of cyber criminals.
:09:12. > :09:16.He believes consumers need to be ever more vigilant about online
:09:17. > :09:22.security. As far as I am concerned, the danger with respect to cyber
:09:23. > :09:26.criminals is increasing on a daily basis. If anything, for a bad guy,
:09:27. > :09:31.it has never been so easy for them to compromise an individual or an
:09:32. > :09:36.organisation. To show how the scam works, we have set up a dummy e-mail
:09:37. > :09:41.exchange between a solicitor and a home-buyer and Jason will be playing
:09:42. > :09:47.the part of the hacker. This is a device which is commonly available,
:09:48. > :09:51.which simulates trusted Wi-Fi. This is the use of's laptop, who is
:09:52. > :09:57.unaware that he is actually connected to the bad guy. This is
:09:58. > :10:00.the bad guy's laptop. So with this attack, everything that the user
:10:01. > :10:06.does on this computer, the bad guy will see. So we are going to start
:10:07. > :10:12.the attack. It is literally one click. So now the individual will
:10:13. > :10:15.start surfing the web. As he is serving, you can start seeing all
:10:16. > :10:22.the content of the websites that he is logging into and all the data
:10:23. > :10:27.itself. So now if the individual was to login, using any usernames or
:10:28. > :10:32.passwords, the bad guy would get to see the information. By using
:10:33. > :10:35.techniques like this, it is easy to see how the hackers are ready to
:10:36. > :10:41.pounce when they know money is on the move. So I can see from the
:10:42. > :10:45.number of e-mails here that an exchange of contract is actually
:10:46. > :10:51.going to happen on Friday and the solicitor or conveyancer has already
:10:52. > :10:54.requested money is to be sent to a particular bank account. What I am
:10:55. > :10:59.going to do, or what the bad guy would essentially do, is create a
:11:00. > :11:05.very similar e-mail address and then resend it to the purchaser or buyer
:11:06. > :11:11.to say actually, we need to change the bank account details. Please now
:11:12. > :11:14.can you send your deposit money to this bank account? Essentially, now,
:11:15. > :11:20.the bad guy just sits there and waits for the money to arrive in his
:11:21. > :11:24.bank account. In Amanda's case, it's impossible to tell exactly how her
:11:25. > :11:30.e-mails were compromised, but however it happened, she has been
:11:31. > :11:34.left ?76,000 out of pocket and it is money she is unlikely ever to get
:11:35. > :11:40.back. She was, however, still able to complete her house purchase.
:11:41. > :11:45.Thankfully, between the brilliant friends and family that I have, we
:11:46. > :11:51.were able, between personal loans and loans from friends and family
:11:52. > :11:57.and that just giving page, we were able to raise enough money to
:11:58. > :12:01.purchase the house. TI Caples helps lead the team at city of London
:12:02. > :12:09.police investigating crimes like this one -- detector -- Detective
:12:10. > :12:15.Inspector Caples. Where we can, we will try and find these people and
:12:16. > :12:19.secure these funds, but a lot of them operate overseas and it makes
:12:20. > :12:23.it difficult, hence preventing these crimes in the first place is so
:12:24. > :12:27.vitally important. These organised crime groups know that Friday is the
:12:28. > :12:31.best day to target home-buyers because the chances are the fraud
:12:32. > :12:34.won't be discovered straightaway. What we are finding is these
:12:35. > :12:38.payments are being made out, they often are discovered until much
:12:39. > :12:42.later, so if they are happening on a Friday, they are often not reported
:12:43. > :12:45.until later on Monday, making it really difficult for us to trace
:12:46. > :12:50.those assets and act as quickly as we would want to. But there are ways
:12:51. > :12:55.you can protect yourself. Firstly, those alarm bells need to start
:12:56. > :12:58.ringing if you are asked to transfer money to a different account. Take
:12:59. > :13:01.the time to make those extra checks and don't do anything without
:13:02. > :13:06.verifying it is legitimate. Secondly, if you think you have
:13:07. > :13:09.downloaded anything, open the links or attachments, get your computer
:13:10. > :13:14.checked out and get those removes. But for Amanda, the experience has
:13:15. > :13:19.left are scared to make any sort of transaction. -- has left her. I am
:13:20. > :13:25.not sure I would have the confidence to sell our house or to purchase
:13:26. > :13:29.another house and and I'm not even sure that I feel confident going
:13:30. > :13:34.into the bank anymore to make a small transaction. Even carrying
:13:35. > :13:38.cash. So, yes, there are lots of things on a day-to-day basis that I
:13:39. > :13:44.had to overcome and conquer. I feel very vulnerable, yes.
:13:45. > :13:51.Well, that is a truly horrible story. Joining me now are Alex Neill
:13:52. > :13:55.from Which? , alongside property expert James Max and fraud lawyer
:13:56. > :14:00.Aaron Chauhan. Alex, anyone would feel sorry for Amanda in her
:14:01. > :14:03.position, nearly ?80,000 gone and really no fault of her own and I
:14:04. > :14:09.think a lot of people would think how could she possibly be expected
:14:10. > :14:13.to understand the situation. It before it happened. I know that
:14:14. > :14:18.Which? Is actively engaged in behalf of people like this. What are you
:14:19. > :14:21.doing? It is a heartbreaking story and a life changing amount of money
:14:22. > :14:25.and unfortunately not the first case we have seen like this, we have seen
:14:26. > :14:29.quite a few and it is linked to the fact that more and more of us are
:14:30. > :14:33.transferring money by bank transfer and when we looked into it, the
:14:34. > :14:36.consumer protection hasn't kept up. So if you were scanned using your
:14:37. > :14:40.credit card or your debit card, you would be covered by the banks but
:14:41. > :14:45.here, the banks accept no liability and it is all down to the consumer.
:14:46. > :14:49.The problem we have with this is these are often sophisticated scams,
:14:50. > :14:53.not consumers who are naive or negligent. They are often things
:14:54. > :14:56.people couldn't have spotted and so we have used our special legal
:14:57. > :14:59.powers to complain to the regulator and ask them to look into this to
:15:00. > :15:11.help banks do more for their customers. What is your take on it?
:15:12. > :15:14.It is easy to look at banks and say they are responsible, you must pay
:15:15. > :15:19.for this, you must sort out your systems. As with becoming more
:15:20. > :15:22.digital society that relies on banking services to be electronic,
:15:23. > :15:28.yes, of course, they will have to make changes. Ultimately, you say
:15:29. > :15:33.there is no way people could spot these particular scams, well, there
:15:34. > :15:37.is. If somebody asks you last minute to change your bank details, the
:15:38. > :15:41.flashing beacons of warning should be going off. You should be making a
:15:42. > :15:47.call. Do the personal touch. Speak to your bank and say, really? Let me
:15:48. > :15:51.check, check again. These are life changing amount of money. He must be
:15:52. > :15:57.absolutely sure every single time you transfer it. -- you must be. The
:15:58. > :16:01.banks must change, of course, but we as consumers need to be aware. The
:16:02. > :16:05.final point is credit cards are different. Every time you make a
:16:06. > :16:10.credit card transaction they charge between two and 3%. Part of that is
:16:11. > :16:14.insurance. If you want to have that kind of charge on these huge
:16:15. > :16:18.transfers of money, by all means, you the consumer will end up paying,
:16:19. > :16:21.and I would suggest this is more about the law and being more careful
:16:22. > :16:27.than it is about simply saying, banks, you pick up the bill. Do you
:16:28. > :16:30.want a comeback? I disagree. In terms of the transfer, this is about
:16:31. > :16:35.the difference between what thanks do when they are made to be liable.
:16:36. > :16:37.When they are liable they develop sophisticated techniques to help
:16:38. > :16:42.protect themselves, frankly, from having to pay out. Debit cards are
:16:43. > :16:48.covered, as well. But they charge you. I know Aaron has a particular
:16:49. > :16:52.point of view, because you are involved, aren't you come in a case
:16:53. > :16:55.of this nature right now? I am dealing with a victim who was
:16:56. > :17:01.suffering from the same type of fraud. She's lost over ?200,000 to
:17:02. > :17:04.this type of scam. There is a collective responsibility. The law
:17:05. > :17:08.needs to be extended and put more responsibility on law firms to
:17:09. > :17:11.educate their clients. They should have a good practice guidance.
:17:12. > :17:15.Warning clients that account detail numbers will not be changed unless
:17:16. > :17:19.notified. Otherwise banks need to match the name of the intended
:17:20. > :17:26.account page to the recipient. At the moment the law says they don't
:17:27. > :17:31.need to do that. -- account payee. This needs to be tested on a further
:17:32. > :17:35.scale. Presumably you all want a change in the law. Thank you for
:17:36. > :17:37.coming in. I am sure our viewers will be right behind your complaint,
:17:38. > :17:45.Alex. If you have been a victim of this
:17:46. > :17:49.type of fraud, or any kind of fraud, let us know. Lots of you have
:17:50. > :17:53.already been contacting us this week. Yesterday we had hundreds of
:17:54. > :17:57.e-mails after the story we did on the rise in women's state pension
:17:58. > :18:02.age. Many more women telling us they were not given enough notice of the
:18:03. > :18:04.change. And plenty of comments after our
:18:05. > :18:09.report on voice recognition technology. This is an interesting
:18:10. > :18:14.one from Rosemary. She works at a hospital with an automated
:18:15. > :18:17.switchboard. She says it has a problem differentiating between
:18:18. > :18:21.haematology, dermatology, and rheumatology, which could end up
:18:22. > :18:24.causing many problems if you end up at the wrong one.
:18:25. > :18:27.Couldn't it just. And after my interview with Luke skywalker
:18:28. > :18:34.yesterday, Murray Gardner tweeted to save Mark Hamill is on Rip Off
:18:35. > :18:36.Britain: Live. Next week, Brad Pitt discussing problems? We live in
:18:37. > :18:40.hope. CHUCKLES
:18:41. > :18:44.Sometimes we cover stories that raise as many questions than they
:18:45. > :18:46.answer. The next involves a plot straight out of a Hollywood movie by
:18:47. > :18:55.Lancashire. Life in the many household is busy.
:18:56. > :19:00.Teenage son Callum is studying for his GCSEs. Dad James works as a
:19:01. > :19:05.teaching assistant. And mum Linda is a full-time carer for their daughter
:19:06. > :19:10.Rebecca, who is blind and deaf. A summer holiday should be a time for
:19:11. > :19:16.all of the family to relax. It is a sanity saver. We have a lot of
:19:17. > :19:23.stress involved in the day to day running of the home. That two weeks,
:19:24. > :19:28.where you can just switch off, and just do the things of families take
:19:29. > :19:31.for granted, and just run-of-the-mill, for us it is very
:19:32. > :19:36.special. To allow Linda to have a proper break her daughter Rebecca
:19:37. > :19:41.stays at a local respite home. It is somewhere where they know she will
:19:42. > :19:45.be safe and happy. Last year at the Delaney 's had booked a two week
:19:46. > :19:48.holiday to their favourite destination. Turkey is a fantastic
:19:49. > :19:53.place to visit. The climate is brilliant. The people are warm and
:19:54. > :19:57.friendly. It is just so relaxing. As usual they had booked their trip
:19:58. > :20:02.well in advance. They thought all that was left to do before jetting
:20:03. > :20:06.off was to apply online for their visas which would allow them into
:20:07. > :20:10.Turkey. It is a simple application process that is typically completed
:20:11. > :20:14.in a couple of minutes. But despite successfully obtaining a visa in the
:20:15. > :20:20.past this time around there was a problem with James's application. We
:20:21. > :20:27.have been on the site at least 40 times now. If not more. It just so
:20:28. > :20:31.sorry, unfortunately not able to issue a visa for you, please proceed
:20:32. > :20:36.to the nearest Turkish Embassy or consulate for Visa application. With
:20:37. > :20:41.every application you just think that the chance is slipping further
:20:42. > :20:46.away. That's going on holiday might not be on the cards for me this
:20:47. > :20:51.year. With panic setting in that the family might miss out on a holiday,
:20:52. > :20:57.James came to ask for help. The trip had cost the family over ?3000.
:20:58. > :21:02.There was a lot at stake. This has been one of the most stressful
:21:03. > :21:07.period I've experienced in a long time. You lie awake at night
:21:08. > :21:11.thinking, what is it? Is it something we have done wrong? The
:21:12. > :21:15.family holiday was in the balance, so we got in touch with the Turkish
:21:16. > :21:17.embassy. With just two days until the the flight we were able to
:21:18. > :21:24.secure James a face-to-face appointment. To his surprise he was
:21:25. > :21:28.told that somebody was not even British with the same name and birth
:21:29. > :21:31.date had been denied entry to Turkey, and the computerised system
:21:32. > :21:40.assumed that the two people were won and the same. The two men are not
:21:41. > :21:44.even linked, so it was a case of the computer saying no. An online Visa
:21:45. > :21:50.could not be issued automatically and James would now face increased
:21:51. > :21:53.security checks. Surely they could filter out using the extra
:21:54. > :21:57.information that you put on your application for a visa to say, well,
:21:58. > :22:03.yeah, this guy is not who we are looking for. James, of course, could
:22:04. > :22:05.prove his identity to the Turkish embassy staff, but will still left
:22:06. > :22:12.with a nerve wracking wait this case was reviewed. Until an 11th hour
:22:13. > :22:16.call. We got a phone call from the embassy saying they have got the
:22:17. > :22:22.green light, the Visa is here, we will mail it to you first thing in
:22:23. > :22:26.the morning. It was a great result for the family, who can now fly out
:22:27. > :22:30.to Turkey safe in the knowledge that their dad could join them. At the
:22:31. > :22:34.time the embassy told us it was pleased that its staff had done a
:22:35. > :22:38.good job in assisting James with this exceptional case. It was
:22:39. > :22:44.confident that the new servers were both faster and more efficient. I
:22:45. > :22:49.think the Turkish Visa system has seriously got to be looked at by the
:22:50. > :22:53.powers that be. And improved. Well, not just improved, actually made
:22:54. > :22:57.foolproof. I certainly would not want to go through this again. But I
:22:58. > :23:01.am afraid that go through it again is exactly what he has had to do.
:23:02. > :23:06.Because the very same palaver has happened again this year. They had
:23:07. > :23:11.such a good trip last summer that as soon as they returned home James had
:23:12. > :23:14.booked the family's next trip. And frustrating as the Visa problem had
:23:15. > :23:18.been, James had felt confident that it just would not happen again,
:23:19. > :23:23.because the Turkish embassy was now aware of his case. And we also
:23:24. > :23:28.thought this was now resolved. Until James got in touch with us again in
:23:29. > :23:35.a panic. James, last year we came to your rescue and managed to get you
:23:36. > :23:38.your Visa so you could go to Turkey. What has happened this year? This
:23:39. > :23:43.year we went with a travel company. They assured us they could get us
:23:44. > :23:50.the Visa is no problem. My wife's Visa was issued, so was my son's, it
:23:51. > :23:56.came to my name and once again, no. Giving what reason? No reason. This
:23:57. > :24:00.is one of the aggregating things about using the system, it does not
:24:01. > :24:04.tell you why you are not getting a visa, it leaves you in the dark. --
:24:05. > :24:08.aggravating. It is really frustrating. With the family holiday
:24:09. > :24:13.once again at risk, James had no choice but to make the 100 mile
:24:14. > :24:16.round trip to the embassy offices in London. As an innocent person who
:24:17. > :24:21.hasn't committed a crime, I don't see why I have to go through so many
:24:22. > :24:26.hoops to get 14 days in the sun in Turkey. His Visa was once again
:24:27. > :24:30.issued, but with a couple of stings in the tail. Visas issued
:24:31. > :24:34.face-to-face come at a cost. Last on the embassy had waived the extra
:24:35. > :24:40.charges as a goodwill gesture, this summer he has had to pay ?93, five
:24:41. > :24:46.times more than the cost of a new visa. -- last on the embassy. Add to
:24:47. > :24:53.that the train fare, the whole thing has made a huge dent in the holiday
:24:54. > :24:57.Budget before they even left the UK. James said the embassy staff gave
:24:58. > :25:00.him an incredible explanation of how a teaching assistant from Lancashire
:25:01. > :25:06.continues to be mistaken for a man on the run in South America. He
:25:07. > :25:10.explained that the problem did not lie with the Turkish government, it
:25:11. > :25:15.lay with the American government, that it was the FBI who had issued a
:25:16. > :25:20.stop order on somebody who shares my name. Apparently he is in South
:25:21. > :25:25.America. He is wanted for tax fraud. All of which raises the question of
:25:26. > :25:30.where else James might suddenly find himself unable to fly to. My wife
:25:31. > :25:35.has family in the US. We recently got back into contact with them
:25:36. > :25:40.after a long while. They invited us to go. Me, America? I'm not sure.
:25:41. > :25:47.You must be afraid to go anywhere. It makes you feel leaving the shores
:25:48. > :25:51.of the UK. -- fear. The Turkish embassy hasn't given any further
:25:52. > :25:57.comment on James's case. I'm hoping that aviation and security expert
:25:58. > :26:01.will share some -- shed some light on this saga. If it wasn't so
:26:02. > :26:07.serious this would be laughable. Maybe I am being naive, but there
:26:08. > :26:11.are documents, a passport, thumbprints, why can they not sort
:26:12. > :26:16.this out? Because you are dealing with the computer, not a human. An
:26:17. > :26:20.operator that probably knows the system very well and frankly does
:26:21. > :26:23.not look at the next screen where the information is. If you go to the
:26:24. > :26:28.embassy you get a person. I find it fascinating that they cannot get it
:26:29. > :26:30.sorted. They fix it then, but then they go back to the previous
:26:31. > :26:36.information for the next application and it just goes on. This no-fly
:26:37. > :26:43.list, you can end up on that? Almost innocently? -- who can end up on
:26:44. > :26:46.that? Anybody. And you will not know you are on the list until you get to
:26:47. > :26:50.the airport, the final gate, and then they will give you a denied
:26:51. > :26:53.boarding letter. You read all the way through, and right at the end
:26:54. > :27:01.there is a little whine about no-fly list. This applies to not just
:27:02. > :27:09.Turkey, but James wants to go to America. -- little line. You find
:27:10. > :27:14.yourself on the list, and what can you do about it? Is it difficult to
:27:15. > :27:18.get off it? Yes, because you need to go back to the source. The Turkish
:27:19. > :27:22.Embassy seem to be using the American list. We don't know what it
:27:23. > :27:27.is. Our gentleman has got to get off the American list, which is part of
:27:28. > :27:33.Homeland Security. This is huge. Are you able to help him? I will try and
:27:34. > :27:43.help him. I have a viewpoint is. But he needs to get hold of his MP and a
:27:44. > :27:46.good lawyer. -- few pointers. That costs money. It does but you've
:27:47. > :27:51.already started the ball rolling so hopefully we can continue it.
:27:52. > :27:58.Ultimate solution? He could always deed poll. Changes name? Yes, but
:27:59. > :28:04.that is a nuclear option. I would not want to do that, would you? No,
:28:05. > :28:08.I would fight it. But maybe it is worth it, change it a bit in some
:28:09. > :28:14.way. It is helpful advice you have given. It is wonderful you will help
:28:15. > :28:18.him out. Thank you for joining us. Good news for you, James. But the
:28:19. > :28:25.whole thing is extraordinary. I'm sorry we could not get any easier
:28:26. > :28:28.solution -- get an easier solution. We had a great result for one of our
:28:29. > :28:34.viewers at our pop-up shop yesterday. Angela can tell us all
:28:35. > :28:37.about it. Our consumer clinic is growing by
:28:38. > :28:43.the day. Lots of people coming down to get advice from a fistful of
:28:44. > :28:49.great experts. Alex Neil is here, so is Caroline Wells and I'm delighted
:28:50. > :28:53.to say we have Gary Rycroft, our solicitor, who has joined us again.
:28:54. > :28:57.And Tim thinks he has been the victim of a scam, tell us about it.
:28:58. > :29:00.Jim wanted somewhere to rent. He went on a website. He found
:29:01. > :29:05.something which he thought was great. He was asked to get in touch
:29:06. > :29:10.with the land of direct come he was asked to pay ?500 deposit, which he
:29:11. > :29:14.did, then it went quiet. Until yesterday, what happened? Out of the
:29:15. > :29:18.blue I was asked for my bank details to return the deposit, which took me
:29:19. > :29:27.by surprise. I'm just looking for some advice. It set alarm bells
:29:28. > :29:30.ringing? Absolutely. Everybody knows not to send them, isn't that right?
:29:31. > :29:36.Definitely, do not give personal information to people who you think
:29:37. > :29:40.might be fraudsters. Go to the land Registry. Check who owns the
:29:41. > :29:45.property. It costs ?3 to do that. And why not get a reference from a
:29:46. > :29:51.previous tenant? Has he lost the ?500? I'm afraid you may have done.
:29:52. > :29:55.Sorry about that, Tim, but keep talking to Gary. Alex, I gather you
:29:56. > :29:58.are looking into voucher websites, these websites which offer you
:29:59. > :30:02.discounts and deals, why are you looking into them?
:30:03. > :30:11.Thereof quite a few now, like Groupon, you can get a good deal.
:30:12. > :30:16.And Christmas is coming up. There is a grey area coming up, if something
:30:17. > :30:22.happens, you don't get the gift, it is faulty, who do you go back to? Is
:30:23. > :30:25.it the voucher sites or is it the manufacturer, retailer in the
:30:26. > :30:30.background? The think we would say to your viewers is always go to the
:30:31. > :30:34.group site first and look at their terms and conditions. If it is a
:30:35. > :30:40.high amount, over 100 p, usual credit card. We have had an e-mail
:30:41. > :30:45.from to reason, who said she bought something using a voucher through
:30:46. > :30:49.Groupon and couldn't get her money because it was a third party, but
:30:50. > :30:53.eventually, Groupon did offer a refund but they went on to say in
:30:54. > :30:58.cases like this refund is usually offered quickly but in this case, it
:30:59. > :31:05.a customer service Eire, for which they have apologised. They need to
:31:06. > :31:09.beef up their customer service. And for Rip Off Britain viewers, you
:31:10. > :31:13.heard it here first, write to them. And we have Caroline from the
:31:14. > :31:19.financial ombudsman. Sue, you have a question. Can you please tell me why
:31:20. > :31:23.companies charge 2% when you are using a credit card? It is a really
:31:24. > :31:27.good question. What people forget is that credit cards, it is about debt,
:31:28. > :31:31.you are paying with debt, so there are a lot more checks and balances
:31:32. > :31:34.that everyone involved in the transaction has to do, but you get
:31:35. > :31:40.legal protection by using your credit card, so it is worth it. That
:31:41. > :31:45.extra 2% perhaps can give you a bit more confidence and security in the
:31:46. > :31:49.future. Thanks very much indeed, great advice as always here in the
:31:50. > :31:54.pop up. Back to the studio. And it is great that we managed to get to
:31:55. > :31:57.reason that refund. It is something we have managed a lot over the years
:31:58. > :32:00.but it seems that some companies still need a gentle reminder about
:32:01. > :32:05.what they have promised faithfully to do.
:32:06. > :32:09.Earlier this year, in our holiday series, we told the story of Amanda
:32:10. > :32:15.from Greenwich, who had been to Majorca on a trip that, for her, had
:32:16. > :32:20.added significance. It was an absolute dream for me, because
:32:21. > :32:27.having suffered various illnesses, hospital treatments, I had had no
:32:28. > :32:32.holiday for approximately six years. But things didn't go to plan. When
:32:33. > :32:37.she got there, the all-inclusive hotel she had booked with easyJet
:32:38. > :32:40.holidays, who had arranged it through a third-party supplier, was
:32:41. > :32:46.closed and though a simple note on the door directed her to another
:32:47. > :32:51.hotel, it wasn't the same standard. I was annoyed at the fact that I
:32:52. > :32:55.hadn't been contacted to tell me of any of the changes. I was tired by
:32:56. > :33:04.that point and I had been on the go for about seven hours. When we later
:33:05. > :33:08.contacted easyJet on Amanda's behalf, the company told us that as
:33:09. > :33:13.a goodwill gesture, it would be refunding 15% of the cost of her
:33:14. > :33:17.holiday. But despite that, Amanda didn't hear from the company again
:33:18. > :33:23.and she didn't receive a penny, until, of course, she came back to
:33:24. > :33:28.us. And when we chased easyJet, the company significantly upped its
:33:29. > :33:33.offer, giving her a voucher to the value of ?150, which Amanda is happy
:33:34. > :33:36.with. You sent a huge response to our
:33:37. > :33:41.story about contactless payment cards a few weeks ago. Fraud expert
:33:42. > :33:46.Gary Fenton conducted a very worrying experiment in which using a
:33:47. > :33:49.freely available apple on his mobile phone, he was able to secure the
:33:50. > :33:55.details from a contactless card borrowed from one of our team.
:33:56. > :34:00.Show me how you do it. If you put the cards onto the table. The phone
:34:01. > :34:05.just needs to harbour itself above the card and that is it. It took
:34:06. > :34:09.less than half a second. Gary was only able to get hold of the details
:34:10. > :34:14.from the front of the card, but that was enough for him to successfully
:34:15. > :34:18.placed an order with Amazon, which does not require the security code
:34:19. > :34:23.that is on the back. Why does a company like Amazon,
:34:24. > :34:27.which must do millions of transactions, not ask for that
:34:28. > :34:32.security number? That is why it is there. That is an important question
:34:33. > :34:37.and I'm afraid you will just have to ask Amazon, I have no idea why they
:34:38. > :34:40.are not doing the security checks. At the time, Amazon insisted it has
:34:41. > :34:45.sophisticated and rigorous measures in place to prevent fraud and the UK
:34:46. > :34:56.cards Association was confident that such a scam had never been carried
:34:57. > :34:58.out in the real world. But we also demonstrated a simple way to keep
:34:59. > :35:00.your card safe. The protective wallet you can buy for about ?1
:35:01. > :35:05.online or from your local neighbourhood watch.
:35:06. > :35:08.Right, nobody can read that now? It is completely protected so if you
:35:09. > :35:14.wanted to make a genuine purchase, you would take it out of here and
:35:15. > :35:16.use it, put it back in here and it can't be scanned.
:35:17. > :35:21.Now, we said you are perfectly entitled to ask your bank for an
:35:22. > :35:25.alternative card that doesn't have contactless technology built in, but
:35:26. > :35:30.Margaret Cranmer, Stuart Johnson and Mike Bradley were among those who
:35:31. > :35:35.told us that when they had tried to do just that, their bank told them
:35:36. > :35:39.it just wasn't possible. So we made some calls to check. And while all
:35:40. > :35:43.the main banks and building societies confirmed they would give
:35:44. > :35:46.customers debit cards that aren't contactless, several of them said
:35:47. > :35:51.they won't do the same with credit cards. Meanwhile, some of you has to
:35:52. > :35:55.good old tinfoil would also help protect your cards to which the and
:35:56. > :36:03.says, according to our experts, yes, this can work. -- the answer is.
:36:04. > :36:09.However, it can come loose and care, whereas card wallets won't.
:36:10. > :36:12.Richard Koch from Cards UK is here, along with technology expert David
:36:13. > :36:16.McLelland. Richard, lots of people are worried about the security of
:36:17. > :36:20.their credit cards and contactless cards in particular. They are right
:36:21. > :36:24.to be so, aren't they? I don't think so. There are hundreds of
:36:25. > :36:28.contactless transactions taking place every second in the UK. We
:36:29. > :36:34.have looked extensively at where fraud is occurring and fraud is very
:36:35. > :36:38.low, 3p in every ?100 spent is fraudulent and that is a level that
:36:39. > :36:42.is going down. Maybe that is because you can only use the contactless
:36:43. > :36:46.cards for very small amounts of money and maybe people aren't
:36:47. > :36:50.noticing it? I think they do notice it on their statements and they
:36:51. > :36:54.reported and the great thing is, you are completely protected. This is
:36:55. > :36:57.not consumer's risk, they will get their money back if it is fraud that
:36:58. > :37:02.occurs and it is very rare that fraud does occur. On this programme,
:37:03. > :37:05.we are always talking about the way in which fraudsters are always one
:37:06. > :37:10.jump ahead of everybody else and here is an opportunity where we can
:37:11. > :37:17.be one jump ahead of the fraudster, by taking some kind of opportunity
:37:18. > :37:19.to prevent that kind of fraud. So what you demonstrated, actually, is
:37:20. > :37:25.you managed to capture what is on the front of the card. It is a new
:37:26. > :37:29.way of capturing visible information but that information has always been
:37:30. > :37:34.printed for the last 50 years, since cards have been around. What the
:37:35. > :37:38.industry is working on very hard is to prevent you from being able to
:37:39. > :37:43.use that to make a transaction. David, you are a great fan of
:37:44. > :37:47.contactless cards? Yes, I use it a lot, on my watch, on my phone,
:37:48. > :37:52.because there are additional security measures but I still carry
:37:53. > :37:55.around, I got this for my birthday, shielded wallet. So my cards here
:37:56. > :38:01.are possibly ??DELETE properly shielded from any skimmers. -- are
:38:02. > :38:06.properly shielded. So you agree there is the chance of fraud
:38:07. > :38:11.happening on those cards? It is not the highest risk, but good personal
:38:12. > :38:16.security is good password security and that is the way we can keep
:38:17. > :38:20.ourselves say. Are we moving to so many opportunities that we are not
:38:21. > :38:26.going to need cash at all? I think it will be all change for loose
:38:27. > :38:29.change very shortly indeed. Not for me, darling, I don't trust the darn
:38:30. > :38:34.things. Thank you to everybody and to everyone who has been kind enough
:38:35. > :38:39.to tell us how much they enjoy these live programmes. Karen Boothby says,
:38:40. > :38:45."I always enjoy your shoe, there is plenty of sound advice." So you may
:38:46. > :38:49.be interested to know that Rip Off Britain is nominated this year for
:38:50. > :38:53.national TV awards, so if you would like to vote for us or any programme
:38:54. > :39:02.on the list, please vote for us, you can do so at this website. Yes, do
:39:03. > :39:06.vote for us! I'm glad she said that. I am holding of the papers because
:39:07. > :39:09.there are plenty of consumer stories. Lots of them are talking
:39:10. > :39:13.about the plunging pound and how that is going to hit your pocket,
:39:14. > :39:19.especially on holiday. And still on holidays, good news from the travel
:39:20. > :39:23.company Monarch, it has just been announced that it has been saved
:39:24. > :39:28.from going under. But a very worrying story in the Daily Mail,
:39:29. > :39:31.some of the banks that refund customers PPI payments now reckon
:39:32. > :39:35.they have made a mistake and are trying to claw some of that money
:39:36. > :39:38.back. Let us know if that has happened you. I think that is
:39:39. > :39:43.shocking. A few of the papers are also bringing up the first
:39:44. > :39:47.driverless cars beginning trials on the road. The Sun predicts that
:39:48. > :39:51.millions of Brits will lose their jobs to robots. Maybe that is ours
:39:52. > :39:57.as well, you never know. More on that tomorrow. I am not a robot, I
:39:58. > :40:01.think. All this week, famous faces had shared consumer secrets. Jeremy
:40:02. > :40:06.Vine said he uses charm to complain, with mixed results, and Mark Hamill
:40:07. > :40:11.revealed he comes from a family that uses coupons. Today, Naga Munchetty
:40:12. > :40:15.reveals she is a savvy shopper, although not a super shopper.
:40:16. > :40:22.She is one of the faces of BBC breakfast. This is breakfast with
:40:23. > :40:25.Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty... Kept a cool composure in the
:40:26. > :40:31.mastermind chair. Specialist subject, the Ryder Cup. And this
:40:32. > :40:40.year, has swapped the newsroom for the ballroom. Dancing the walls,
:40:41. > :40:43.Naga Munchetty... -- the vaults. With a background in financial
:40:44. > :40:48.journalism, Naga Munchetty is used to telling us what to do with our
:40:49. > :40:50.cash but the she put her money where her mouth is.
:40:51. > :40:56.Do you reckon you are a savvy shopper? I think I am, I watch
:40:57. > :41:00.prices, I think about the buy one get one free offer is that aren't
:41:01. > :41:04.always necessarily value for money and I do use the Internet quite a
:41:05. > :41:08.lot to make sure I am getting the best value, particularly big-ticket
:41:09. > :41:13.items. I like to think I choose wisely. If you choose wisely, what
:41:14. > :41:18.are the tips you would give to other people? I think you should do your
:41:19. > :41:21.research. If you are buying something expensive, like a white
:41:22. > :41:24.good, tumble dryer, washing machine, think about what you use it for,
:41:25. > :41:29.because sometimes you have all of these bells and whistles and you
:41:30. > :41:33.don't need them all. If I am buying a washing machine, I have lots of
:41:34. > :41:36.delicate clothes, so I want to make sure that is its strongest point,
:41:37. > :41:39.not the highest temperature or a washer dryer that is much more
:41:40. > :41:44.efficient if I'm not going to use it. We all work hard for our money
:41:45. > :41:47.and want good value, what are your tips to ensure we do? My tips would
:41:48. > :41:53.be that if you enjoy shopping, do you really need it? People very
:41:54. > :41:58.often don't need, they just want. And that is fine, but are you going
:41:59. > :42:01.to use it? I buy things that I thoroughly enjoyed but I'm going to
:42:02. > :42:05.use them. I have clothes that date back to when I was 20 but I still
:42:06. > :42:10.wear them. When you are shopping, is it high Street or the web? I must
:42:11. > :42:15.say, I hate shopping. I hate going to shopping malls, the Internet, I
:42:16. > :42:21.would rather be on the golf course. If I am ordering something, I do it
:42:22. > :42:27.all online, I never go into shops for the purpose of buying anything.
:42:28. > :42:33.Shoes? Absolutely, you have got bigger, you have to try them on in
:42:34. > :42:39.the shops. Your feet are valuable, don't mess with them. Naga
:42:40. > :42:44.Munchetty, thank you. I am with her on the shoes. Lots of us have been
:42:45. > :42:49.e-mailing us with your questions and here with us on legal eagle Gary
:42:50. > :42:52.Rycroft and technology expert David McLelland, who has the first
:42:53. > :43:01.question from Marion Roberts. It is the David. After seeing your house
:43:02. > :43:06.scam story, and unencrypted computer, does it make it safer? Not
:43:07. > :43:10.really, people sending things over the Internet is logging onto
:43:11. > :43:14.wireless networks. Your computer can be encrypted but if you are sending
:43:15. > :43:18.it in securely, it will still see it. And one from Gary, Kathleen
:43:19. > :43:23.Bennett says she is trying to sort out her will and has noticed you can
:43:24. > :43:27.get a free one. Are they as good as the ones you pay for? All that
:43:28. > :43:33.glitters is not gold and I would be very careful of a free one. Making
:43:34. > :43:38.your well is a big thing and important and a bit of a minefield.
:43:39. > :43:42.My advice is use an expert, use a solicitor. You have best protection.
:43:43. > :43:50.If you use a lawyer, they are regulated and ensured. -- ensured.
:43:51. > :43:54.And I have an e-mail, you Angela, Jan Combs gets in touch and wants to
:43:55. > :43:58.wish you a very happy birthday because she shares the same
:43:59. > :44:05.birthday. So happy birthday to Jan and happy birthday to our lovely
:44:06. > :44:08.Angela. Where is the case? Gary and David, thank you. I think we lost
:44:09. > :44:13.sound a little bit during Gary's and sad but it is all back and we will
:44:14. > :44:16.be back again tomorrow. Do keep watching and sending in your e-mails
:44:17. > :44:21.and Facebook messages, because we really do love hearing your
:44:22. > :44:24.thoughts. And your questions. And we are after plenty of those for
:44:25. > :44:28.tomorrow's show when Lord Michael Grade is here in his new role of
:44:29. > :44:33.keeping charities up to scratch. Let us now if you have been hassled by
:44:34. > :44:38.over enthusiastic fundraisers. And Simon Calder, our favourite travel
:44:39. > :44:41.expert, as we investigate how tens of thousands of holiday-makers have
:44:42. > :44:43.had travel plans scuppered. That is where we leave it, loved your
:44:44. > :44:46.company. See tomorrow, goodbye.