Episode 2 Rip Off Britain

We asked you to tell us what's left you feeling totally ripped off

and you've contacted us in your thousands.

You've told us about the companies that you think get it wrong

and the customer service that simply is not up to scratch.

If I walk in somewhere and they treat you badly,

then I walk and I will never go in again.

You've asked us to track down the scammers who stole your money

and investigate the extra charges you'd say are unfair.

You've paid for a service

and you expect it to be the service that you've paid for.

And when you've lost out but no-one else is to blame,

you've come to us to stop others falling into the same trap.

As a customer, you've got to be more savvy, in terms of what you're

buying and make sure that it's something that you want or need

and not something that they're trying to trick you into getting.

So whether it's a blatant rip-off or a genuine mistake, we're here

to 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 welcome to Rip-Off Britain, where, as ever,

we're armed with the very best advice to make sure

that you don't end up losing your hard-earned cash,

and particularly not to any of the fraudsters

coming up in the programme

with ever more audacious ways to trick you out of your money.

Today we're going to be exposing some of the very latest scams

you've told us about.

All the ones we're going to be looking at are very different,

but they do have one thing in common -

a really plausible story to draw you in.

Which is why the people who've contacted us

have ended up being taken in,

but what's truly frightening about some of their stories

is that the situations in which they find themselves could

very easily happen to you as well, so today we've got

everything you need to know to avoid being caught out in the same way.

Coming up - the elaborate con

that saw this woman tricked into thinking she was working

for the police to catch the very fraudsters who were after her cash.

I mean, as silly as it sounds, I'm quite into the undercover,

which sounds ridiculous, but

I was being reeled in.

And after paying to put their precious belongings into storage,

why this couple never saw them again.

They left us very, very angry

and saddened that there are people out there

that actually do these types of things.

Well, I guess that these days, most of us know to be very suspicious

if we get a phone call out of the blue from somebody

who wants to discuss our finances,

which is why the people who are behind such calls have,

unfortunately, become especially ingenious

at making their lies appear totally believable.

Over the last couple of years, we've reported several times

on scams that relied on fraudsters keeping open the phone line

when you thought you'd hung up.

But now there's a new twist -

one that's leaving a lot of people out of pocket.

I never cease to be amazed at the really convincing stories

that criminals come up with

to ensure that they can part us from our hard-earned cash.

And the one that targeted the woman I'm about to meet,

has to be one of the most extraordinary scams

we've ever heard about on Rip Off Britain.

-Valerie?

-Hello!

-Hi, I'm Angela.

-Good to see you.

-Come in.

-Thank you.

'Valerie's long been aware of the ways in which fraudster can target

'us in our own homes.'

What a lovely, spacious kitchen you've got here.

'So she was immediately on her guard when in June 2015

'she received, out of the blue,

'exactly the sort of phone call she knew should make her suspicious.

'The man on the end of the line claimed to be a police officer.'

This guy is saying that he's a serious fraud officer

and they were working with the bank

and £1,200 had been taken out.

So I said, "No, that's absolutely not me."

And he said, "Well, you will need to phone your bank

"and get your card stopped,"

so I immediately thought, "I've heard about this on your programme

"and that they stay connected.

-So, you immediately thought this might be a scam?

-Yes, yes, I did.

Valerie had seen our previous reports on so-called vishing cases,

where scammers cold-calling homes

make themselves appear genuine by suggesting

that you call them back on a trusted number.

But all too often when you thought they'd disconnected the call

they'd stayed on the line. So you'd still be speaking to them

while believing you were actually checking out their story with, say,

your own bank.

Knowing this, Valerie did not immediately call her bank,

but the so-called police officer was one step ahead and rang HER back.

He said, "Have you phoned your bank yet?"

So I said, "No, I haven't,"

and I said, "By the way, I need

"your police ID number and your name."

He gave me that.

Valerie knew she should check these details with the police,

but, flustered by the con artist,

this time she didn't hang up for long enough for to clear the line.

She went straight back to the scammers, who of course

assured her that she had been talking to a bona fide officer.

Valerie then called the bank. Again, the fraudsters stayed on the line.

And you were convinced at that point you were talking to Barclays?

Yes. Yes, I was.

The bogus bank official advised her to help the police

and no sooner did that call end, then the bogus police officer

rang her again.

He's not giving me a second, and

then he's asking about my other accounts.

I said, "Well, I have an ISA account."

He said, "Well, can you transfer that into your current account?"

"But why would I want to do that?" He says, "Well, we do need you

"to use your money today but it will be totally safe."

And that's when things got really audacious.

Because rather than simply try to talk her into handing over her cash,

over the next five hours and throughout dozens of phone calls,

the scammers persuaded Valerie

that she was taking part in an undercover police operation

to trap a gang of crooks.

He's on the phone again immediately.

He's then telling me that this gang are working in London

and that almost £500,000 had been scammed.

Realising that he'd hooked her,

the scammer moved on to the next phase of his plan.

At that point he said, "We need you to make a purchase in London."

But you need a second to process

that thought and he wasn't giving me that.

-So he was railroading you with information...

-Yes.

-..with questions...

-Yes, yes.

-..all of the time,

-not giving you time to stop and think.

-Not giving me a minute.

Valerie was being asked to transfer £33,000 of her savings

into her current account.

She was told that the money would help at the crucial moment

when the criminal gang would be caught in the act,

but because it was such a large sum of money,

Valerie had to go physically to her bank to transfer it in person.

The crook even had the gall to caution her to be careful

because somebody in her own bank

could be working with the criminal gang.

He said, "Don't forget, somebody in the bank is in cahoots with this,

"and I want you to observe the bankers there."

After transferring £33,000 into her current account,

Valerie was instructed to catch a taxi to Selfridges' flagship

store, where the final act of the drama was to play out.

Were you sort of quite excited at this point?

Well, I'm thinking we're going to get them.

I mean, as silly as it sounds, I'm quite into the undercover,

because he used that term so many times -

"Now, don't forget you're working undercover."

Which sounds ridiculous, but...

I was being reeled in.

As she headed into London, Valerie was told that the gang

was about to try to use her card details to purchase a Rolex watch.

So she needed to be at the famous department store at the same time,

to prove to the sales staff that whoever was supposedly using

her card details was doing so fraudulently.

He kept ringing and ringing and ringing.

"Well, where are you now? How long now?"

After nearly two hours of frantic phone calls,

the taxi eventually dropped her outside Selfridges.

You're at the Rolex watch counter. What happened?

At this stage, I was feeling very vulnerable, very frightened,

because I'm in the store, I'm in London,

my family don't know where I am.

The only person that I'm in contact with is this guy

that I totally believe is a police officer.

-And he's still on the phone?

-He's still on the phone.

He directs me. He says, "Now I want you to go to the watch department."

And I said, "I'm starting to feel really wobbly and faint."

And he said, "Go, go, go! They've just taken another £30,000

"out of somebody's account. We've got to get them,

"we're going to get them today. Go!"

The scammer remained on the phone the whole time.

The assistant asked me, "Can I help you?"

And I said, "I'm looking to buy a Rolex."

And she said, "Do you know what one?" So I said, "No, I'm not sure,

"but he's able to hear me",

and I said, "Just a minute, then. I'll ask him cos it's for a friend."

And then he gives me a number of a Rolex

and I relay it to the assistant.

And she said, "Oh, yes, it's this one here."

And he's now saying in my phone, "You're doing really, really well,

"Valerie. It's all going to be over soon. Purchase - make the purchase."

And you were buying a watch that was valued at...?

£13,000.

That's a bit scary in itself, isn't it?

Well, it is! It's probably my only opportunity that I'll go and buy

a Rolex for £13,000!

But luckily for Valerie, the Selfridges staff could sense

that she was on edge.

And what's more, they'd been warned about these kinds of scams.

What made them think that there was something not quite right?

I didn't know what I was buying! And also I'm on the phone to somebody.

I'm asking them which one is it that they want, which is ridiculous.

Fortunately, the vigilance of the store staff paid off,

and they intervened to stop the purchase

before the scam could escalate any further.

As for Valerie, she was understandably confused

and unsure who she could trust.

Then I'm aware of two guys coming into the store,

and one of them leans over and...

..he said something about fraud.

So I thought, "Ah, they're looking after me."

And he said, "You're involved in a scam."

-What's going through your head now?

-I don't know.

I'm sat there now and I don't know who's the baddie, who's the goodie,

and at that point, then, I did break down for a minute.

Eventually, genuine police officers turned up

and took a very distressed Valerie home.

They were also looking into similar cases,

all of which produce the same perplexing question.

Why would crooks want someone like Valerie to buy and expensive item

like a Rolex watch in the first place?

DCI Anthony Archibald was the real police officer

who took charge of the investigation,

dubbed Operation Eddystone.

What was the point of this scam?

The ultimate goal for the criminal is that the high-value watch

would then get sent out of the country and sell it

for a considerable amount of money. So there is a huge profit

for what was just a couple of hours' work for a criminal.

If Valerie's purchase had gone ahead,

the man on the phone would most likely have given her instructions

on what to do with the watch next, which inevitably would have meant

her handing it over to the gang, supposedly as police evidence,

and losing all her money.

As it was, she had a lucky escape, but others aren't so fortunate.

You must have seen many instances where people have become the victims

of scams. What sort of effect does it have on them, do you think?

Absolutely devastating for some people. I mean, there's the loss

of considerable amounts of money,

and in some cases I've known, it's people's life savings.

And I can fully understand how Valerie or other victims

are taken in by this.

Well, we're delighted to say that there's very good news

which it's hoped will put a stop to this particular scam altogether.

The phone companies have made changes to make it impossible

for anyone to stay on the line for more than two seconds

after a call ends.

But you do still need to be on your guard.

The fraudsters will always come up with new ways

to con us out of our cash.

Has it done a lot of permanent damage and hurt to you,

do you think?

There's a lot of anger in me still.

I was lucky. All he took from me was a day of my time.

But other people, they're taking their life savings,

they're taking their life away.

And I'm very angry about that.

And that's why I'm prepared to speak up about it.

Let's be honest, who hasn't watched the Antiques Roadshow

and fantasised about making a mint on some of the stuff that you've got

stored away up in the attic or around your home?

Well, I warn you, our next story is a cautionary reminder

that if you're parting with precious goods,

things don't always work out the way you'd expect.

In May 2014, when Sue Larkin was getting ready to move

from Aberdeen to Darlington,

she hoped a clear-out would help her to make not just space

but some cash as well.

So when she saw an advert for a local antiques event,

she went along.

But things turned out very differently

than she ever could have expected.

We asked antiques expert Adam Partridge to see

if he could help get to the bottom of what's gone on.

I had some items of silver which my mother had left me,

-which I wanted to eventually sell because I was downsizing.

-Yep.

And there was a company of valuers coming to a hotel in Aberdeen

-to do valuations.

-I see, so was it a free valuation day?

It was a free valuation day.

So you thought, "I've seen these on the telly, I'll go along..."

-Yeah, exactly.

-"..and see what happens."

-Yes.

It seemed like the perfect opportunity for Sue to see

what her items might be worth.

And when Sue arrived at the show, a man called Michael Bilkus

gave her some exciting news.

He looked at them and then said that he would be happy to put them

into auction for me and I thought this was all my problems solved.

Michael told Sue he'd be able to put

her silver into an auction that he was going to

in just a few weeks' time.

How many items were there?

I'd say in total about 20, 22 bits and pieces.

-So quite a lot of silver, tea sets and things like that?

-Yes.

The reserve price on the handwritten receipt

Sue was given for the whole lot was £730.

So he simply said, "I'll take these

"off your hands and we'll auction them"?

-That's correct, yeah.

-No detail of where?

-No.

-When?

-No.

-Gosh, this is really worrying stuff, actually.

-Yes.

And this is not the way that people should be doing this

in this business.

So Sue returned home without her family silver

but with the promise from Michael Bilkus that he would be in touch

to give her more details about the auction.

But when he did contact her again,

it was with some unexpected news.

About a month afterwards, he telephoned me

to say that he decided he wasn't going to put them into auction,

that he thought he would clean the items of silver

and put them into his shop.

And did this make you feel uneasy that he was changing his tune?

I just thought that he was doing it to benefit me,

that we were probably going to get a better deal.

She was then told that her items would be going into auction

after all, but as months passed since she'd handed over the family

silver - with no sign of any money by the way - Sue had had enough.

I sent him an e-mail to say that the next day I was going to go

-to the police...

-Yep.

-..and I actually did contact Action Fraud

and reported it to them.

I also sent letters to the company, recorded delivery,

saying that they were in breach of contract.

Michael Bilkus had told Sue that he was unable to sell her goods

because the value of silver had depreciated.

And then he said he no longer even had access to her items,

claiming they were at the home of his former partner

who had now changed the locks!

-Well and truly the alarm bells were sounding now.

-Yes.

I sent him an e-mail saying that it was now 12 months

and don't think he got away with it cos watch this space.

And that's when we got involved.

Rip Off Britain broadcast Sue's story back in October 2015.

Now, at the time, Michael Bilkus told us he's a professional

and honourable person

and he'd personally make sure

that Sue suffered no loss if he couldn't get the silver back.

But nothing happened for several more months.

So in May of this year, we went back to him again,

and while he maintained that none of this was in fact down to him,

blaming instead former colleagues who'd been involved with the event

that Sue had attended, he told us that despite not being in possession

of these goods, he would now pay her the money

that he'd originally said she'd received.

And he has.

Minus however, an 18% commission.

So it's at last a resolution for Sue,

who's so relieved that all of this is now at an end.

But Adam has advice for anyone else

thinking of selling the family silver.

There are a few common sense pointers, really.

Beware of travelling itinerant valuers

and companies that you haven't really heard of.

If in any doubt, don't leave your stuff with them, even if

they're offering you a receipt. Get a couple of opinions or go

and see a reputable auction house or a member of a trade association

where a receipt actually means something.

As for Sue, she hopes her story will prevent others

going through anything similar.

I'd want to make doubly sure that this cannot happen to somebody else.

It was a bad experience - frustrating, stressful.

Once again, we're ready to open up our Rip Off Britain pop-up shop.

Now, this time, we've come to one of the busy shopping

centres right in the heart of Nottingham.

For two days, we've brought our team of experts out on the road

so that we can give advice face-to-face.

We've got a terrific team here

that are ready to give you the tools and all the information

you need to ensure that the next

time you hand over your hard-earned cash,

you won't be ripped off.

Faye Lord and her dad, Mick, came to see finance expert

Sarah Pennells after being caught out by a scammer advertising on eBay.

They'd bought a voucher for a big-name holiday company

but had become suspicious after seeing another very similar

listing from the same seller.

Do you mind if I ask how much did you bid for this card,

this holiday voucher?

-It was £1,850.

-Wow.

-So obviously, it is a massive amount of money to us.

-Of course.

We decided something wasn't quite right and we thought,

"This is a lot of money. The best thing to do would be to cancel this

"transaction and ask for a refund."

The seller agreed to a full refund, but the money never arrived.

So Fay turned to eBay, who gave the seller

a deadline to either pay up or send proof that the voucher

had been delivered. And a day before that time was up, the seller

sent an e-mail claiming the voucher had been sent, providing a

tracking number, which they said proved it.

A day later, we saw this tracking number had been signed for

-when we checked it online.

-So, in other words...

-We'd not received

anything at all. No card through the door for missed delivery

-or anything.

-And no way of tracing whoever it might have been

-who'd had the item?

-No.

'And so the plot thickened when

'they called at their local sorting office to find out what had gone on.'

We said, look, allegedly this item has been sent to us

but we have not received anything. How can this happen?

And we provided them with the tracking number.

They said, "This rings a bell with us, actually. We know about this."

A gentleman had come in and said, "I've got a special delivery item.

"I'm not expecting anything. This is all very strange."

But he handed over the card nevertheless and all there was

inside it was a piece of paper that said, "Your gift card is enclosed."

But there was nothing else inside it.

'It seems, rather than sending

'the voucher, the seller had simply sent an empty envelope

'by recorded delivery to a random address in Nottingham and they'd

'done so deliberately, knowing that they could then demonstrate proof

'of posting and delivery. As a result, eBay told Faye they could not

'refund her the money, leaving her nearly £2,000 out of pocket.'

The auction site just keeps saying, "The seller has provided

"evidence that the item has been delivered to you,"

which is just not true.

I mean, really, it's down to the online site to reimburse you

because you have undoubtedly been the victim

of fraud, and they have a procedure which says very clearly the

terms and conditions that you have to meet in order to be

covered by it, which you meet. The company is quite adamant

you haven't got a case. I disagree.

And I think this might be one that we need to get involved in.

-Mention the name Rip Off Britain.

-Mention the name. Give them a

bit of a shake and just see whether it changes their mind.

Immediately after filming, Sarah contacted eBay herself and the

company conducted an investigation.

They concluded that Faye had been the victim of a sophisticated fraudster

and have now refunded her the full amount.

So satisfaction at last.

Moving house and all your possessions can be a stressful

experience at the best of times,

which is why so many of us hire someone to help when we do it.

But more than a few of the people who hired a

man called Stephen Charlesworth to look after their belongings

now bitterly regret ever doing so,

because they haven't seen the things they trusted him with since.

Back in 2014, Barbara and Peter Barnes were moving back to

Sale in south Manchester. With Peter paralysed from the waist down,

Barbara wanted to move closer to her family.

Every day is a challenge. You just can't get up and walk and do things.

It's very, very hard because Peter can't do lots of the things

that he could do before, which is frustrating for him

and also puts pressure on me.

It was Stephen Charlesworth they paid to take their valuables away

and keep them safe in storage while they waited for their new home

to be completed, but that was the last they saw of their belongings.

We couldn't get hold of him. I tried loads and loads of times

and there was no answer.

They tried to contact Stephen Charlesworth

numerous times by phone and by text. He simply didn't reply

and when they went to the police, they were told it was a civil

matter so nothing could be done.

In money terms, it's probably worth about £2,000.

But what matters to us is the sentimental value of all the

things that we've lost.

The couple even tried visiting the supposed

storage facility where their belongings were meant to have

been kept. But it immediately became clear they'd been

spun a line. The address they had been given wasn't a storage

facility at all. It was a local community centre. But to this day,

it remains unclear where Barbara and Peter's belongings did end up.

Stephen Charlesworth told us he'd had so many clients,

he couldn't remember.

I'm just absolutely disgusted that there's somebody out there

that could come round, seeing us in our situation, knowing what

we've already gone through, and you know, why he's done it to us.

I just can't understand.

Sadly, since we filmed with the couple, Peter has died,

making it all the more important for Barbara that some of the more

sentimental items can be returned, including irreplaceable

artwork by her husband.

When we dug a bit deeper into the man they hired, we discovered that

Stephen Charlesworth is linked to no less than six different

removal companies, several of which have caused similar problems

for other clients. At the time we spoke to Stephen Charlesworth,

he insisted that such cases represent

a very small proportion of his customers.

But since we broadcast our original story,

more angry customers have come forward.

Among them, Jonathan Vanplew from Welshpool in Wales.

In 2015, he hired Stephen Charlesworth to transport

a rally car that he'd bought in Spain back to his home in Wales.

He explained that he was delivering cars all across Europe

and he was doing this all the time.

And it would just be a matter of course to get my

car back to me within a week or so.

After paying around £5,650 for the rally car, Jonathan then paid

Stephen Charlesworth £700 to deliver it.

The car should have been here by the middle of April, and when it didn't

arrive, I started sending him a few e-mails to ask him when it would be

here. And in reply, I would get that there were van problems and then

there would be another van problem, or there would be an issue

somewhere else with the driver.

After six weeks of excuses and

no car, Jonathan contacted the police. Like Barbara and Peter,

Jonathan was initially told by his local police that they

couldn't do anything because it was a civil matter. But eventually,

an officer did agree to look into the case for him.

When the police got involved, they did actually have a telephone

interview with Stephen Charlesworth.

At this point, he turned round and told them the car had

actually been stolen from a compound in southern France.

So Jonathan again contacted Stephen Charlesworth, asking for his

insurance details so that he could put in a claim for his car.

Every time I actually asked him by e-mail, the reply came back

just with a different statement, never actually replying to

the direct question. I'm just gobsmacked to be honest.

I don't believe that people should be trading like this. I've always

run my own business on trust and I still believe that you should

trust people. But I am starting to trust people less and less.

Well, I'm afraid Jonathan is still waiting to find out what happened

to his car and we have spoken to others

who have also lost valued possessions.

So perhaps reminding Stephen Charlesworth of the distress

all of this has caused the Barnes family may just jog his memory

as to what he did do with theirs.

It's stuff we can't replace.

I mean, apart from the fact we've lost quite a bit of money,

it left us very, very angry and saddened

that there are people out there

that actually do these types of things and we want him to sort of...

Well, understand how we feel.

Now, I've spoken to Stephen Charlesworth and unfortunately,

it appears that Barbara is still no closer to getting her

possessions back, including those personal photographs and

dozens of paintings by her late husband, which of course have

enormous sentimental value to her and her family.

And what's worse, when speaking to me, he completely dismissed the

importance of these items, describing them as tat.

Now, whilst you might think that this should be a matter for the

police, Greater Manchester Police tell us that there are no

active investigations against Stephen Charlesworth at this time.

If you've got a story you'd like us to investigate, then

get in touch with us via our Facebook page - BBC Rip Off Britain,

our website - bbc.co.uk/ripoffbritain,

or e-mail -

Or if you want to send us a letter, then our address is -

Time and time again, we hear from people who say that they

would never fall for scams like the really nasty ones we've been

hearing about today, but I'm afraid the reality is that whether

the yarn that you're spun involves a potential job offer, fake

e-mails or even the claim that you're going to be working

undercover for the police, there is a scam out there to catch everyone.

And you know, it doesn't really matter whether you lose

a small amount or an absolute fortune, the effects of the

worst scams can leave you picking up the pieces for months or even

years afterwards, which is why we are so grateful that all the people

we've met today have been prepared to share their stories with us.

But at this point in the programme, it's where we have to leave it,

I'm afraid, but do please tell us

about any new scams that you've come across,

but in the meantime, thank you very much for joining us on

-the programme and until next time, from all of us, bye-bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.