Episode 11 Rip Off Britain

We asked you to tell us who's left you feeling ripped off.

And you contacted us in your thousands, by post, e-mail,

even stopping us on the street.

And the message could not be clearer.

There's too much focus on profit and less on, like, customer care.

It's so hard to complain. Companies make it so difficult to complain.

You told us, with money tighter than ever,

you need to be sure that every pound counts.

All my money is very hard-earned.

So when I go to spend it, I expect value for money.

So whether it's a deliberate rip off, a simple mistake,

or a catch in the small print,

we'll find out why you're out of pocket and what you can do about it.

Your stories, your money. This is Rip-Off Britain.

Hello, and I'm glad you could join us on Rip-Off Britain today,

because we're going to be telling you everything

you need to know about the latest scams.

What they are, how they work, and most importantly,

how you can avoid being taken in by them.

Well, I'm sure you know that scams come in many shapes and sizes.

Sometimes they're presented as an opportunity -

perhaps even one that the people behind the scam

think might actually pay off. But other times,

you'll be targeted in a way that makes it sound like

they're protecting you from the fraudsters

when, of course, exactly the opposite is true.

However they're dressed up, what all scams have in common

is that they're designed quite simply to relieve you of your cash.

So, by the end of the programme, you'll be a lot better prepared

to make sure that the next money any of them get hold of isn't from you.

On today's programme, how this woman handed over nearly £7,000

to fraudsters who convinced her they were from her bank...

My daughter said my face was whiter than my hair

when I came out of the bank.

An online scam targeting users at one of the best-known

shopping sites around...

It makes you really angry.

You know, these people can just sit at home

and just take money from you that you've saved for years.

You know, and one click of a button and it's gone.

And scam-busting advice from the experts at our pop-up shop.

Now, it's a very sad fact of life that there will always be people

who'll do whatever they can to con you out of your hard-earned cash.

And they're finding even more elaborate ways of doing it these days.

Perhaps unsurprisingly,

it's bank accounts that are particularly targeted,

with billions of pounds lost each year to fraudsters

who've managed to get their hands on somebody else's money.

Now, to do it, they're using a scam that we're hearing

more and more examples of in the programme.

And next time, they could very easily be targeting you.

But don't worry, because we're going to tell you everything

you need to know as to how to avoid being taken in.

The phone rings...

-Hello?

-'Hello. I'm calling from Visa...'

..the caller says they're from your bank card provider

and there's been suspicious activity on your account.

He reassures you that they're dealing with it.

He just needs a few details

to make sure that you are the account holder.

The caller is a fraudster, creating an elaborate scam

to try and trick you into handing over your financial details.

Now, of course, we've investigated scams like this in the past

but, as you might imagine,

criminals like these are always developing and expanding tactics

to try and find new ways of getting hold of your money.

Here's a scenario that all sounds very plausible, all very believable.

But in fact, from beginning to end, it's a pack of lies.

Hilary Jeffrey received one of these calls earlier this year.

Whoever was calling wasn't from her bank at all,

but an audacious fraudster.

They phoned up and said they were phoning from Visa

because there'd been some unusual activity on my card.

There'd been five items taken from my account online.

Now, she was suspicious of the caller, but felt reassured

when she was told to hang up

and call the number on the back of her card

to be sure that she was speaking to her bank.

So that's what she did.

But the person on the other end of the phone had not hung up

when that first conversation had ended.

Unknown to Hilary,

this meant the call connection was automatically kept open.

Hilary thought she was calling her bank,

but in fact she was still on the line to the fraudster.

I'm not sure I heard a dialling tone, I'll be quite honest.

I heard a ring tone, certainly. And then the phone was answered.

So even at that stage, you thought it was going through.

I thought it was going straight through to the bank, yes.

The fraudster was still there,

waiting to put the next stage of the scam into action -

passing the phone over to an accomplice,

pretending to be from her bank.

I've just had a phone call from Visa,

saying there's been some unusual activity on my card.

Hilary was told that they had set up a new safe account for her,

and that she had to transfer her balance across.

They then took me

through the process of moving my money into a new account,

which I corroborated with my card reader.

And they said a new credit card would be with me within a week

and we signed off.

They then sent me a text on my mobile,

informing me that a new account had been set up in my name.

It all seemed completely above board.

But Hilary was the victim of a well-executed fraud.

So as far as you were concerned...

As far as I was concerned, it was just normal.

They were taking precautions

so that nobody could get at that account again.

So how much, then, did you transfer out of your account?

Well, they took the total amount I had, including my overdraft limit.

And it was £6,774.15.

And to further deceive her, shortly afterwards,

the fraudster rang back, saying an appointment had been booked

to discuss the situation the next day at her local branch of the bank.

I walked into the bank and I said to the girl there,

"I've got an appointment at one o'clock with Laura." And she looked

on the list, she said,

"I haven't got you down for an appointment."

My daughter said my face was whiter than my hair when I came out of the bank.

And she was worried about me driving home, because the first thing I did,

I got in the car and my foot slipped on the pedal!

-Just sheer nerves.

-How did you feel at that stage?

I felt furious that I'd been... I let myself do it.

-So, furious with yourself?

-With myself. Yes, yes.

I feel that people have got to know about this business of being

able to hold the phone line open, which is where I feel I slipped up.

Because I feel I should have known that.

But Hilary's case is just the tip of the iceberg.

Fraud against individuals

is estimated at £9.1 billion every year.

Hilary's bank is part of the RBS Group,

where stories like this are becoming increasingly familiar.

We see more and more of these cases each week, each month.

And what the fraudsters are doing is really moving away from attacking an organisation directly,

but putting their energy into targeting the customer.

And as Hilary discovered, the key to this scam is the way

it gets around any suspicions that it might be a fraud.

When the customer feels suspicious,

because they've listened to all that advice that's been given to them

across the industry and government and police, they then

advise them to put the phone down and then contact their bank.

What the fraudsters have done is managed to find a way to keep

that line open. So the customer then dials, you know, us, for example.

-The legitimate number.

-Exactly.

They think that they're making a phone call,

but it's actually the fraudster that's kept the line open,

who then answers the phone, pretending to be the bank.

And the customer then provides all the information that's needed.

But who are these fraudsters? Are they organised criminals?

Are they individuals on the make?

These are organised criminals who have all the structures

that you would expect a normal business to have.

And they deliberately go out to steal your personal information

and then use that to try and steal money, you know, from banks

and other organisations.

The good news for Hilary is that she did get her money back

through her bank, which is what usually happens

when you can prove that you've been a victim of fraud.

But later in the programme, we'll hear what happens

if your bank takes a very different approach

and says that you are liable for the money that's been lost.

I don't understand the bank's position on it,

as to why it's saying it's not fraud.

Whether I'll see the money again, I don't know.

Buying second-hand goods online can sometimes be a little bit worrying,

particularly when it comes to high-value items like cars or caravans -

things that you can't exactly send back if something isn't right.

So if you're told that one of the biggest names in internet shopping

has a safe account where your money is held

until you are happy with the goods, well, that sounds ideal, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, it's too good to be true.

But that discovery came just a bit too late for some of you

and you've ended up being taken in by a scam

when you thought that your money was being kept safe.

Last year in the UK alone,

a staggering £62 billion was spent buying goods online.

And not just for small items.

More and more of us are now turning to websites like eBay to buy

expensive goods such as cars, caravans and motorbikes.

It's these vast sums of money that are changing hands

that are exactly the reason why the internet and sites like eBay

are such an attractive proposition to scammers who want to rip you off.

With three young children and a passion for the outdoors,

buying a caravan seemed like the ideal choice for John and his family.

We thought about going abroad, you know,

but for the price of going abroad, we could buy a caravan and have lots of holidays with the kids.

-Mmm.

-Initially, we looked everywhere, looking at all these caravans.

Just couldn't find the right one.

-The kids were very specific in what they wanted.

-What did they want?

They wanted a triple bunk at the back.

So, when John saw a caravan in a local classified ad

with the must-have triple bunk,

he contacted the seller, who called herself Linda.

Linda then was saying her husband died

-and she was left with a caravan.

-Giving you a sob story?

-Yes.

A very hard-done-by sob story.

Quick sale, needed the money, got a mortgage to pay.

Linda told John that she'd recently fallen victim to fraud,

so she wanted to protect herself from any unscrupulous buyers.

She suggested they conduct the purchase online through eBay,

where the site's Buyer Protection scheme would keep them both safe from fraud.

He was told that they money would be kept in an interim account

and only be released to Linda when John was happy with the caravan.

Did you actually go and look at the caravan before you made a decision?

No. The thing was, we asked on our e-mails, can we view?

However, they said what happens is,

with the eBay Buyer Protection scheme,

is that you pay the money into eBay and they hold the money for you.

Once they money's in there, they agree to view the caravan.

I paid my money into the eBay holding account,

or what I believed to be the eBay holding account,

and then waited for them to deliver the caravan to be viewed.

-And how much money did you...?

-It was £5,000.

-Yeah.

A lot of money. But John was convinced that his money was safe,

and that he'd get a full refund if he wasn't happy with the caravan.

It sounds perfect, doesn't it?

In fact, it was one of a pack of lies that have cost John very dear indeed.

The eBay Buyer Protection does exist,

but it doesn't apply to the purchase of any cars or vehicles.

Also untrue was the claim that eBay will look after your cash

while you wait to receive your purchase.

They don't, and any seller who tries to tell you about interim accounts

that protect your cash is lying.

To be frank, the details of the Buyer Protection scheme

are neither here nor there in this case,

because the seller had nothing to do with eBay

and was not selling anything through them.

They were just using eBay as a front to persuade buyers like John

to part with their money.

It was all part of a very sophisticated scam.

The seller sends the victim an e-mail which looks

exactly like it's from eBay. But it's a fake.

The bogus e-mail contains a link which you're told to click on

to complete the purchase.

But instead of paying through eBay,

this fake link takes you to a fraudulent payment page

that puts your cash straight into the criminal's bank account,

which is exactly what happened to John.

Back at home, he showed me how he fell for the slickly operated scam.

-So, she wants her 5,000...?

-Yes.

-You want to be guaranteed that that money is protected.

-That's right.

So this is the link that she sends you.

Your registration was confirmed, Buyer Protection.

That looks pretty...

-Convincing, yeah.

-Pretty convincing, that, doesn't it?

eBay, colours are right. This is all right.

We've got, "eBay Buyer Protection. Learn more."

All of this, "E-mail confirmation of your registration," enough to

make you think that what you were looking at was the genuine article.

-Yes.

-I suppose, if you knew what to look for,

and you'd dealt with eBay before,

you would have recognised that the e-mail address was wrong.

Yes, I could now.

Because, you know, I know these things have been highlighted to me.

Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to replicate the eBay pages.

What did you feel when you suddenly realised there was no buyer,

there's no eBay protection, there's no £5,000?

-There's no caravan?

-We were pretty distraught, to be fair.

You know, and we beat ourselves up a lot about how stupid we'd been,

you know. And even now, we still think, you know, why did we do it?

Why did we do what we did? I don't know where to turn to.

I really don't know who to turn to to get my money back.

I want to take my children on holiday this year, you know.

It won't be in a caravan. So, it's a difficult one.

However much John and anyone else taken in by this scam were convinced

that they were dealing with eBay, in fact they were going straight through

to criminals, handing over cash that they'll probably never see again.

eBay told us that cases like this are an important reminder that any

transaction not completed on ebay.co.uk is a...

Much like responding to a classified advert in a newspaper...

..as they won't have access to eBay Buyer Protection.

Also, buyers need to look out for warning signs, including...

..or who push for a speedy sale via money transfer.

Sellers who claim that...

..and sellers who refuse to meet in person or refuse to allow the buyer

to physically inspect the vehicle before the purchase.

And that's something that John wishes he'd known before parting with £5,000.

His family's caravan holiday dream has disappeared along with the cash.

I did make a mistake. I'm aware I made a mistake.

It makes you really angry, you know.

These people can just sit at home

and just take money from you that you've saved for years, possibly.

One click of a button and it's gone. Yeah, so I have been ripped off.

-JULIA:

-Our pop-up shop has opened its doors again.

For one weekend only, we came became to Liverpool with a team of experts

-to run street workshops...

-Do spend some time

if you've got specific travel questions you want answered.

..along with our one-stop advice shop for all your consumer problems.

Give them eight weeks to respond and if they don't,

consider taking your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Elizabeth called in to tell travel journalist Simon Calder

what happened after a company approached her offering to take

a time-share she no longer wanted off her hands.

-We got a telephone call...

-Just a cold call?

-A cold call inviting us

to go to Stafford.

They would buy our time-share from us.

But when she went to the meeting,

Elizabeth says there was a real hard sell.

We had to pay nearly £4,000 to them

to apparently take our time-share off us.

But hang on, if... Forgive me. In my world,

if somebody wants to buy something I own, then they give me some money.

I don't ask them to give me some money.

You're lucky if you could get out, never mind walk away.

The pressure they put you under was terrible.

Elizabeth's glimmer of hope is that she paid half the money

on her credit card and may be able to claim it back from the bank.

In order for you to reclaim your money under the Consumer Credit Act,

you need to say to the card company, "There's been misrepresentation,"

or, "There's been a breach of contract here."

Either way, Elizabeth says she's learned an important lesson.

Don't answer any phone calls

cos, basically, I'm still getting the phone calls from all

different companies. "We can sell your time-share for you."

You know, we don't know where to turn to.

I am afraid this looks like an awful state of affairs

with some bad people who have been just

misrepresenting what they can do.

I'm feeling a bit happier.

I'll go back to my credit card company

and pursue it and see how I get on from there.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain, how scamsters are exploiting

the biggest name in transferring money to get hold of your cash.

My stomach started churning.

I started getting very confused

and angry.

It had definitely been withdrawn.

Earlier in the programme we heard how sophisticated scamsters

were able to steal over £6,000 from one Rip-Off viewer

by phoning her up,

claiming to be part of the security team at her bank.

Now, you'll remember, to reassure her,

they had called told her to call them back on the number on the back of her credit card and when she did,

little realising they hadn't hung up their end of the previous call,

they convinced her to transfer her savings into a new,

apparently safe account. Luckily for her, because it was a clear case

of fraud, her bank agreed to return the money -

which is what most banks would do.

But here's a warning - not all of them.

When exactly the same thing happens,

some banks can have a very, very different response.

It was in March that Gavin Edwards from Southampton

was called by conmen who told him they were part of a fraud team

and they'd spotted someone trying to access his Barclays bank account.

They said I needed to hang up and call back on the number

on the back of my card.

I didn't realise they'd held the line open.

They even asked for my mother's maiden name.

They stole £9,352.44.

What makes scams like this so clever

is the way they play on the fear of fraud to commit the crime.

When he'd been asked to transfer his money,

Gavin had been convinced that he was speaking to his own bank.

And it wasn't until the following morning that he started to sense that something was wrong.

I'd been wondering what had been happening with Barclays,

so I was expecting them to give me a call at some point

and by the time it got to ten, no-one had rung.

So I was getting a little bit concerned.

I just wanted to know where my money was - you know, if it was safe.

So Gavin rang his bank

and when he gave them the name of the person he'd been speaking to,

supposedly from their fraud team,

he was told that that person did not exist.

It sounded so genuine the day before and the fact that

I had rung the number on the back of my card the day before,

and spoke to what I thought was the bank,

it was quite a shock to realise that it wasn't actually Barclays

I had been speaking to but the fraudsters themselves.

Thinking he was transferring it into a safe account,

Gavin had unwittingly handed all his savings - almost £9,500 -

straight into the hands of the fraudsters,

leaving him with just the £7.50 cash in his pocket.

To go from, sort of, nearly £9,500

down to £7.50, due to one phone call, it was quite tough

and I couldn't survive on £7.50 until I got paid.

I had to ring my parents, which was a bit embarrassing,

and ask them if they could give me some money.

Barclays told Gavin they would pass his case on to their GENUINE fraud department

to investigate and they were soon back in touch.

A letter arrived from the fraud department

and basically it's saying, "I am writing in connection with

"the recent fraudulent activity on your account.

"I can confirm that your personal details have been misused

"to gain access to your account."

I was reasonably, sort of, happy with the fact that they had said it was fraud.

They had said that in the majority of fraud cases,

customers do get their money refunded.

However, two months later when the fraud department wrote

with their final decision, they had some devastating news.

Eventually they sent me this letter and a part of it says,

"After reviewing your case,

"we cannot accept the transactions being disputed as being as fraud.

"Therefore you will not be offered a refund

"and will be held liable for the amount in dispute."

It felt like they'd just dismissed it out of hand as...of no importance.

Obviously, to me, that amount of money is very important.

It was a disgraceful way that they considered that was a final conclusion to the matter.

Gavin also felt this latest letter contradicted the first one

from the bank. While that one had confirmed that his personal details

had been misused to gain access to his account, this latest one said

something entirely different - that one of the reasons it wasn't fraud

could be because there had been

"no apparent attempts by a third party to compromise or otherwise impersonate" him.

I had been compromised because someone rung me up

saying they were from the bank

and saying there was malicious attempts on my card

and on my account. So, you know, I had been compromised by a third party

and...it's a fraudster!

Gavin feels he's been treated unfairly

and wishes he'd been with a bank that might have reacted differently.

I sort of feel that if I had been with another bank now,

I might have got a refund on my money a lot quicker, hopefully.

Official figures show that in 98% of cases like this,

the banks do refund the money that has been stolen.

In the 2% of cases where they don't,

it's usually because they have decided

it was either a fraudulent claim

or the customer has acted with gross negligence,

neither of which Gavin would say applies to him.

I don't understand the bank's position on it,

as to why they say it is not fraud.

As far as I am concerned, it IS fraud.

Whether I'll see the money again, er...

I don't know.

But when we contacted Barclays about the stance they had taken on Gavin's case,

there was some very good news indeed. They told us that they...

..and the level of service received by Gavin was not good enough.

They apologise for that and say they will be...

According to CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service,

2012 saw a 53% increase in crimes like this,

where fraudsters are able to take control of your bank account,

so what can you do to prevent yourself from being stung?

The Metropolitan Police Force is working to prevent economic crime

and fraud across Greater London

and they are concerned about who these criminals are targeting.

It is a significant issue which we are concentrating on at the moment.

So far, in the last two years

since it came to our attention there has been 2,700 offences.

The most taken from an individual victim in London

is £145,000.

145,000? That's what I call a big scam.

Obviously, it's a national problem

and it's happening all across the country.

The one thing I will stress is these people are very, very good at what they do.

So they sound very plausible, they are very polite,

they stress everything is to protect the individual's money

and they give a way out for people, obviously, to ring up

and check what's happening and then they perpetrate the fraud.

Isn't it possible to shut down this aspect of an open line -

the fact that someone can just stay on the phone?

We're getting the support of Ofcom

and the telephone companies to do exactly that,

to close down so that the line can't kept open and that the offence...

The second phone call cannot be made so the offence cannot be perpetrated.

But in the meantime, there's one very simple thing you can do

to make sure you shouldn't ever fall victim to a line that's held open.

Use a second phone

to make the call, whether it's a mobile phone or a landline,

to make the call. In that way,

it becomes very difficult for them to keep the line open.

If you don't have a second phone,

wait at least five minutes before making any call

that you're asked to and make sure that you hear a clear dial tone

before you do it, although be careful -

some variations of the scam have been known to use a recording.

Gary, a lot of these criminals have built up some very clever devices

as to how to scam people.

Are there any tell-tale signs for the individual to watch out for?

If anyone asks you for your PIN number over the telephone

or your bank details over the telephone, that generally is a fraud.

Banks, police officers, law enforcement

will not ask you those questions.

So, they'll never ask for a PIN?

They never will ask for a PIN number,

whether it's to tell them it verbally or to key it into your phone,

it will never be requested.

So if somebody is asking you for that,

it's likely that's going to be a fraud.

And that has to be the key piece of advice.

However plausible the person you're speaking to is,

always keep those key details to yourself,

so that you can keep your money safe, where it belongs.

At a time when money is tighter than ever,

you need to know it's working hard for you,

avoiding rip-offs and sharp practice along the way.

So to help you, on our website...

..you'll find plenty of invaluable tips and expert advice,

plus you can download our free guide to getting a better deal,

which is full of useful information to stop you being stung

or left out of pocket.

Now, here's a mystery involving the whereabouts of a large sum of money

and a big name that says it takes pride in making life a little better

for its customers. But two of those customers would say

that life has got a whole lot worse because £1,200 of their savings

have effectively just disappeared and nobody can say for sure

exactly how that has happened or who has got it now.

None of us like to lose money but it's especially galling

if someone has found a way to take it by exploiting a system

that you should be able to trust.

And that's exactly what happened to Chris and Sam from Bishop Auckland.

Their run of bad luck began last year

when they returned home one day to find that they'd been burgled.

We didn't feel safe in our own home any more, so...

we put our heads together and thought, "We want out -

"we want somewhere new, somewhere safe for us and our daughter."

Sam and Chris began searching online for a new home to rent

and spotted what looked like the perfect choice.

I decided to contact the landlord directly

and I did get a reply pretty much straightaway, confirming, obviously,

he WAS the landlord, this WAS his property and everything else.

Keen to move in, Sam began exchanging e-mails with the landlord

with all the information needed to set the wheels in motion.

It was continuous for a number of weeks.

Basically, gathering different information,

as in getting tenancy agreements, getting photos of the property

and just general reassurance.

We thought nothing of it. Great, you know, we found somewhere quickly,

we can get out, we can start getting our lives back on track

and feeling safe.

The landlord told Sam and Chris that he lived abroad in Denmark,

and before making the trip over to the UK to meet them, he wanted

reassurance that the couple had the necessary funds to secure the flat.

The landlord said to us that he'd been messed around in the past,

basically saying he'd been let down and things, and we believed him,

because it'd been going on for quite a while and he gained our trust.

And here's where things got rather clever,

because, although the landlord wanted proof that Sam

and Chris would be able to transfer him some money in the future,

he wasn't actually asking them to send anything now.

Instead, he asked them to prove that they were good for the cash

by transferring it between each other and showing him a receipt

for the transaction, which he asked them to do via Western Union.

Western Union is an American money transfer service

that advertises a fast and easy service

with agent locations around every corner.

The company boasts that it processes up to 28 transactions per second,

and in 2012 carried out 231 million of them worldwide.

So we thought, "Well, it's safe and secure,

"and it seems like quite a good option," so we went for that.

There seemed nothing to alert the couple to any potential problems.

After all, it's not unusual for a landlord to want reassurance

that potential tenants can afford to rent the property.

And, of course, Sam and Chris hadn't been asked to hand over a penny.

All they had to do was to set up a transfer

of £1,200 between themselves and send over a photograph of the receipt.

Because the money was just going from myself to my partner,

we didn't think there was a big issue or anything to be worried about.

So they decided to go ahead at a Western Union in Sunderland.

Sam would hand over the cash to be transferred and Chris would be

the only person who would be authorised to pick it up.

I spoke to the lady in the branch and told her the situation.

She reassured me that it was safe, it was secure,

that nothing could go wrong.

Satisfied, Sam paid £33 for the money to be transferred.

Chris was named as the receiver.

Chris would have required ID the same as what I had to give

when I put the money in.

Basically, a passport or driving licence, just to confirm

who he was, and he needed the transaction number as well.

As requested,

Sam sent a picture of the Western Union receipt to the landlord.

It showed the total amount as well as a ten-digit code

known as the Money Transfer Control Number.

I took the photo of the number and the amount shown

and sent it to the landlord,

thinking it wouldn't be a problem,

because I was reassured that they would have to have two forms of ID

to actually collect the money.

Two days later, armed with the receipt

and the necessary ID, Chris went into the same branch where

Sam had deposited the funds to collect their money.

But he wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The branch took the paperwork, the ID,

and the lady ran it through the system, er,

and it came back that there was a problem.

The money had been withdrawn.

Thinking that the assistant had made a mistake,

Chris asked her to check it again.

She ran it through three times,

and each time it came back saying the money had been withdrawn.

My stomach started churning, I started getting very confused

and angry.

It had definitely been withdrawn,

there wasn't a problem with the input.

It just turned me physically sick.

Amidst the panic, the big question was,

how could the money have been withdrawn?

Chris was the only person who was supposed to be able

to pick up the funds.

The branch manager contacted Western Union's head office to find out what could have happened.

She was told that the money was picked up,

using the correct forms of ID,

in London within the first two hours of it being deposited.

Despite his protests, Western Union was adamant that Chris had

already collected the money from one of its outlets in London.

But Chris says that simply wasn't possible

because he'd been nowhere near there at the time, as he was working

away from home in Wolverhampton when the money was picked up.

Western Union assured them there would be a thorough investigation,

which would take a couple of weeks.

Everything was just rushing through - how has this happened?

Why has it happened to us without my name and address or photographic ID?

And it dawned on the couple that, in all likelihood,

the so-called landlord had taken the money

and they had been the victims of an elaborate scam.

Although they now realise they shouldn't have

sent in the transaction number, they just can't understand what ID

could have been used to pick the money up.

I did actually contact the police.

Which... Somebody came out, talked to us.

But the police couldn't help, and Western Union's own investigation

eventually concluded that all the right procedures had been followed.

So it was case closed, leaving Sam and Chris none the wiser as to

where their money had gone, and, more importantly,

if they would ever see it again.

We understand the fact that we were in the wrong,

we did send the transaction number,

but we were reassured that you would need ID AND the transaction number.

Western Union's simplicity means it is often used by fraudsters

in scams, so we went to see them to find out what they are doing to

stop other people being caught out in the same way as Sam and Chris.

What knowledge do you have of the way in which Western Union

is being used by scamsters to illegally obtain money?

It's certainly a concern.

We have a series of measures to try to target these problems.

We've redesigned the "send money" form -

this is a form that the sender will complete

before they do a transaction.

We've put leaflets and brochures into our agents

and made them fully aware of the type of scams

that have been perpetrated against consumers.

We have a 24/7 hotline, fraud hotline,

where the consumer can call and get advice on what to do.

Agents are trained both in how to process transactions

but also how to identify fraud.

They're given information on the most recent scams,

they're trained to ask questions, to ask the consumer,

"Why are you sending this money? Who are you sending this money to?",

to identify if that person is using the system for the first time,

and, of course, the agent has the discretion

not to process a transaction.

But what sort of sanctions do you take against those offices

that let out money without the right kind of structures in place?

Angela, they are closed. We don't want those on our books.

Can you look me straight in the eye and say honestly that

Western Union is in a position to protect consumers in the future?

Yes, absolutely.

On Sam and Chris's specific case, Western Union say that

because the couple had shown the fraudster their confidential

Money Transfer Control Number, that person must have used it to collect

the money, presumably showing fake ID created in Chris's name.

Although further ID is needed when transferring larger amounts,

the company has stressed...

..including securing a property.

We also tried contacting the landlord in Denmark

who'd started the whole mess. He has yet to reply.

Although it looks like the couple's money is lost for ever,

they're keen to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to anybody else.

I would want the money back, yes, but I would hate to think

somebody else would have to go through this.

It's bad enough that we had to go through it.

Last year, 229,000 cases of fraud were reported to the police

in England and Wales, up by a whopping 27% on the previous year.

I'm afraid to say that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Unless they involve large sums of money,

most scams probably go unreported.

It's estimated that, one way or another,

no less than half of us will be targeted in a typical year.

The Financial Conduct Authority

regulates the financial services industry in the UK

to protect consumers.

So what advice do they have about how to spot a scam?

The whole subject of scamming these days is enormous,

whether you are talking about major scams or on the doorstep.

But what are the type of scams we should be looking out for?

The things that we see in the financial services sector

as the scams that are coming up are some of the ones that

have been around for a long time.

So, people offering investments in fine wine or other products,

but also some slightly more exotic ones.

So, overseas property developments is a big one.

Things that are going to be developed quite a long way off

and are going to make lots of money.

One of the things that is standard issue in all advice that we give

to people about financial services fraud is that

if something sounds as though it's too good to be true, it probably is.

If these things were that easy to make money from legitimately,

then they wouldn't be ringing you up to sell them to you.

I suppose, if you think about it, you go to a bank

and you get nothing in interest these days,

so if someone comes along offering you a vast amount of interest,

you would automatically know that that is not true.

You do need to stop and ask yourself, if you can get a 7% return

from this scheme and your returns are guaranteed,

which is what they usually tell you, and they've got this fantastic

track record, why aren't they just investing their own money in this?

Why are they out there selling that to you?

The other aspect I would like to touch on is the whole length

they will go to to suck you in,

because they really will go to any length whatsoever, won't they?

One of the most depressing things, actually, we see in this job is

the sorts of people who are targeted by these people running the scams.

Some of them are very vulnerable, elderly people, people with

mental health issues and so on, and they will get this call

out of the blue from someone who is a very smooth, persuasive salesman.

They will often take a bit of time to build up a relationship

with the person, and then they suck you in, and then,

once they've started reeling you in, they start putting on the hard sell.

So you might be getting tens of calls in a day, telling you that

unless you invest now, this opportunity is going to go away.

Unless they involve large sums of money,

it's believed that most scams usually go unreported,

so how can you make sure you don't fall into the fraudsters' trap?

What is your ultimate advice on avoiding those unwanted calls?

-Because we all get them.

-You can't stop people telephoning you.

You can sign up to the Telephone Preference Service and so on,

but you clearly are never able to absolutely stop cold calls.

My advice is that you should be polite and firm,

and if someone is ringing up to offer you an investment product,

the chances are, that's not a legitimate investment product,

and you will be saving your time and your money by simply saying no

and putting the phone down.

It's estimated that several million people do fall victim

to scams every year in the UK.

It's a very lucrative business,

with consumers losing billions to the fraudsters.

So, what should you do if you get sucked in?

We have a consumer helpline at the FCA.

Simply ring us up, someone will answer the phone,

they can take all the details down on the phone.

We may then contact you again to ask for more information,

particularly if we think there is some action we can take.

We may tell you, depending on the sort of investment that you've made

or the sort of contact you've had, we may direct you to say,

actually, this is a matter for the police.

And you can find lots more information

on how to avoid scams on our website. It's...

Here at Rip-Off Britain,

we're always ready to investigate more of your stories.

Confused over your bills, trying to wade through

never-ending small print?

When they sit you down to sign up for things, they don't really give

you the chance or the time to read through all of that small print.

Unsure what to do when you discover you've lost out,

and that great deal has ended up costing you money?

I was horrified.

And I haven't got that sort of money to waste like that.

You might have a cautionary tale of your own and want to share

the mistakes you've made with us, so that others don't do the same.

You can write to us at...

Or send us an e-mail, to...

The Rip-Off team is ready and waiting to investigate your stories.

Well, that's just about it for today,

but I hope we've given you plenty of tips on what to watch out for

so that your money stays where it belongs - with you.

Of course, the scary thing about scams is that new ones pop up

all the time, so a warning. Do stay on your guard.

And please tell us about any of the ones you've come across, so that we

can pass that intelligence on to as many people as we possibly can.

Just in case you still need a little bit of help spotting one,

here are a couple of headlines.

If you've been talked into handing over your cash on a promise

that doesn't come true,

or if someone asks you to hand over your bank details, well,

in our book, those are scams, however convincing they may seem.

Just be very wary. And on that note, I'm afraid we have to leave you.

We will be back soon with lots more information. Until then, bye-bye.

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