0:00:02 > 0:00:05Each year, half of Britain is targeted by some kind of scam
0:00:05 > 0:00:08and the brains behind these scams are quick-thinking conmen
0:00:08 > 0:00:13who know every trick in the book to get you to part with your cash.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Coming up, the share-selling scam that will give you more
0:00:33 > 0:00:36than your fair share of misery.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41It's a massive loss. We're never going to regain it. It's as good as my life savings.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46And the Olympic ticket fraudsters who stole millions.
0:00:46 > 0:00:53In terms of selling tickets, the scam that Exclusive undertook was the most sophisticated I'd ever come across.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57I'm here to tell you what the conman doesn't want you to know -
0:00:57 > 0:01:01how to stay one step ahead of the game and not get scammed.
0:01:08 > 0:01:14The art of investing is balancing risk against reward.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20That is the risk of losing your money versus the size of the return you're going to make.
0:01:20 > 0:01:28If someone can offer you an investment that has a massive return, but is a dead cert,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31with no danger whatsoever, why would you say no?
0:01:31 > 0:01:36Because it will almost certainly be a con and the world of stocks
0:01:36 > 0:01:40and shares is a breeding ground for crooks who want to steal your cash.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43A boiler room scam, also known as a share scam,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47is when a fraudster pretending to be a stockbroker tries to sell you
0:01:47 > 0:01:50shares that are either worthless or non-existent.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53It's been going on since the 1930s when dishonest firms would
0:01:53 > 0:01:56hastily set up in the basement, or boiler room, of existing buildings.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01But, as the Financial Services Authority hears all too often,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04this type of fraud is still robbing us in large numbers.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08The size of the boiler room problem is always difficult to estimate.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10We see £20 million of loss every year
0:02:10 > 0:02:14and 1,000 people losing about £20,000 each
0:02:14 > 0:02:17which itself is a shocking figure.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Worse than that, that is clearly the tip of the iceberg.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26It's reckoned that only 10% of people affected
0:02:26 > 0:02:30by boiler scams come forward to talk about what's happened to them
0:02:30 > 0:02:32as most are too ashamed or embarrassed.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36It can be hard to admit you've been scammed.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40I think I'm about to meet someone who knows how that feels.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46- Hello, Carl.- Hi, Matt. Come on in. - Cheers.
0:02:47 > 0:02:5329-year-old Carl has recently been left devastated after being ensnared by a cruel, devious scam.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Losing vast sums of money and his most treasured possession
0:02:57 > 0:03:00along the way, it's an extremely painful story for him to tell
0:03:00 > 0:03:05but he wants to prevent others being caught out the same way.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Carl, what's your job? What's your speciality?
0:03:10 > 0:03:15I'm a floor layer in the retail trade. Shop fitting, mainly, we do.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18All over the country, as far as Northern Ireland.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Laying floors is back-breaking. Carl gets on his hands and knees
0:03:22 > 0:03:24for every penny he's earned.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27But throughout the long days and weeks away,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31he was spurred on by the thought of saving enough to buy his dream car.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32My uncle's a mechanic.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35He used to bring different cars round to my house every week.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38I suppose that's how I got into it as a little boy.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42And Carl set his heart on owning the car his uncle had once driven.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48He had a 911 back when I was six years old and ever since I went in it, that was my dream car.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51That was my goal in life really.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56A few years ago, Carl finally got enough money together to buy that car.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01A lot of people would be watching this and thinking, "Carl's got a Porsche - he's rich."
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Is that the way it works?
0:04:03 > 0:04:07I wish! I work 16-hour days, seven days a week.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12It's not often I get time off to enjoy what I like most.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15A Porsche, there you go. I'd come home and like to take it out
0:04:15 > 0:04:17cos I'd been away from home for three weeks at a time.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19It's nice to get back and enjoy something.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21And that's your big passion.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25At the time, Carl thought nothing could separate him from his beloved motor,
0:04:25 > 0:04:30but then a friend got him interested in the stock market.
0:04:30 > 0:04:37A work colleague put his phone number into a search engine, people looking to buy cheap shares.
0:04:37 > 0:04:43He's given his number to an internet site which is saying,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46if you're interested in shares, you wanted to get started.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48A penny shares website, I believe it was.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Then got inundated with phone calls from various brokers.
0:04:52 > 0:04:59There are firms that don't approach the FSA and say, "We want to be a stockbroker,"
0:04:59 > 0:05:02such as boiler rooms. They operate on the fringes.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06They steal their money by pretending to be mortgage advisers,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10investment advisers or stockbrokers of different sorts.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13There was one that stuck out that seemed like a sure bet.
0:05:13 > 0:05:19A work colleague checked the company on the internet, looked on the FSA register.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23It seemed they were all registered as well.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26But what Carl's colleague didn't know was that the company
0:05:26 > 0:05:29he was speaking to were almost certainly impersonating
0:05:29 > 0:05:32a legitimate firm who were on the FSA register.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36This is known as cloning and can easily fool people into thinking
0:05:36 > 0:05:38they're dealing with a proper company.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43It's all part of giving a veneer of authenticity
0:05:43 > 0:05:44to what's really a con.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48And this supposed broker who'd called Carl's friend
0:05:48 > 0:05:50said that he had a great offer going
0:05:50 > 0:05:53on some shares in the oil exploration industry.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00I took a tip off the guy. I watched it for a week, two weeks.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03The initial stages, they don't try and make a sale.
0:06:03 > 0:06:09It sounds odd, but it's to show they're not trying to get you to buy something you don't want.
0:06:09 > 0:06:16They want you to want it first. One way is to name a few companies that they're promoting.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21When they speak to you another time, they'll tell you how those companies have done.
0:06:21 > 0:06:27They'll only refer back to the ones that have done well and it makes it sound like they're great stockbrokers
0:06:27 > 0:06:29and they're giving great advice,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31but really they're choosing a few companies
0:06:31 > 0:06:33that have done well in the past few weeks.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37So far Carl and his friend had avoided temptation,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39but true to form, this broker told them
0:06:39 > 0:06:43to watch the progress of some more shares he was tipping.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Sure enough, when they looked them up on an independent stock exchange website,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49the results were impressive.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52He was telling the truth, it seemed.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57We watched them on the stock market and the price kept going up and up.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01The next time he called, he said, "You missed out on them,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05"but don't worry. I've got these ones you can invest in. These are going
0:07:05 > 0:07:08to do the same thing, but you need to buy these this afternoon."
0:07:08 > 0:07:13Carl's friend took the plunge first and sent some money for the man to buy shares on his behalf.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17And then watched as their value on the market continued to rise.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21It wasn't good to see him make loads of money and profits. I wanted a bit of that.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26He forwarded my number onto the broker that was dealing with it at the time.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Within a couple of days, I received a call off the guy.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33These early phone calls are all about engaging in conversation,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37building up this false sense of trust
0:07:37 > 0:07:39that the boiler room conmen are so expert at doing.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43The charm offensive worked and Carl quickly felt confident enough
0:07:43 > 0:07:46to invest his own hard-earned cash.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51He transferred £3,000 into what he thought was the bank account of a bona fide stock broking firm.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58I put the 3,000 in. By the same afternoon, it was worth 9,250.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Carl had recently remortgaged his house so he had money
0:08:01 > 0:08:05available to invest. Over the next few months, he sent more
0:08:05 > 0:08:09and more money to his broker to invest in different shares.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Until he had spent £12,000 in total.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14He wasn't worried.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17The value of his shares was rising on the stock market
0:08:17 > 0:08:21and to prove he owned them his broker had sent him some certificates.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25It would be difficult to reveal a con by looking at a certificate.
0:08:25 > 0:08:31Share certificates look different for different companies and for different types of people that you deal with.
0:08:31 > 0:08:38Part of the reason the con is so successful is that people invest in shares for medium or long-term.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41They might not start to worry about it until the day comes,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44perhaps many years after that, when they want to get their money out.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Carl's broker phoned saying he had some more shares that were a sure thing
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and asked if he had any more funds.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Carl said he had no money left, but let slip he owned a Porsche.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00It was almost as if he had his teeth into me then.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05As soon as he knew I had the capital sitting there, that was it, he wouldn't let go of me.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07The broker talked up the potential profits
0:09:07 > 0:09:09and Carl knew it would take years and years of working
0:09:09 > 0:09:11to get that kind of money.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13Finally he was coaxed into putting his dream car up for sale.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Having worked so hard to get it,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Carl eventually sold his pride and joy for £27,000,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25and prepared to put £20,000 of it into his broker's bank account for new shares.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Carl sent the money. He'd now shelled out £32,000 in total.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32And while all this was going on, Carl's work friend,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36who'd been the first to get involved, had decided to sell his shares.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41He asked the broker to send through the money once this was done and then went on holiday.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46But two weeks later he phoned Carl with some worrying news.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53Our work colleague was back and he still hadn't received any money
0:09:53 > 0:09:56from the shares that were supposedly sold on his behalf.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59That was it then, alarm bells started ringing.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03And whereas previously he used to be on the phone pretty much every day,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08Carl's broker was now, strangely, hard to get hold of.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11It was just like they were folding the shop up, one bit at a time.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16Struck off the FSA register that we found, the internet page disappeared,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19and then last of all, the phone number didn't ring through any more either.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24All you need to operate a boiler room, infrastructure wise, is a telephone that works
0:10:24 > 0:10:26so they can easily shut down.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Carl had been given a London address for his broker.
0:10:31 > 0:10:38It was only when he travelled down from Northamptonshire to check it out that he learnt the bitter truth.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42There was no sign of anybody. It was as though they had never even been there.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46All we could do was come home, upset.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Work on, and try to get on with life the best you can really.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00- You've realised, obviously, by now, that you've been scammed.- Yep.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07What effect has that £30,000 had on you?
0:11:08 > 0:11:13Well, a big struggle, to be honest.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17It's a massive loss. I'm never going to regain it, ever.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19It's as good as my life savings,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23let alone 10,000, my girlfriend's inheritance she received,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26she put towards the Porsche as well.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29I feel indebted to her a little bit now as well.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31It's had a strain on our relationship.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37It's just ridiculous what these people can get away with.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43- You've got to work towards something.- Yes.- Whether it's a family, or whether it's a car
0:11:43 > 0:11:50- or a house or whatever it is, we give ourselves goals to work towards.- Yes, keeps us going.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54- You know? It's very difficult to say no when it's there on a plate.- Yes.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58It's very easy for people to judge, but, if they're in the same situation,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02they'd have to be sure they wouldn't do the same thing.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Carl's certainly not alone in getting conned by a boiler room scam
0:12:06 > 0:12:11but he is one of very few with the courage to come forward about it.
0:12:11 > 0:12:18We really need people's help. We can, even off one phone call, manage to catch people who run boiler rooms.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22We manage to freeze assets and get money back to victims on occasions.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25I feel sorry for you because I know how much hard work
0:12:25 > 0:12:2830 grand represents, doing what you're doing.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30I'm glad I was young enough to take it on the chin,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33rather than some old people that get taken in for the con,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35they take their life savings.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38At least I've got many years in front of me to try and recoup that.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45The discussions you've had with your girlfriend, how did they go?
0:12:45 > 0:12:51It was more or less as if she said, "I told you so," but she was understanding.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54We didn't fall out too much over it, to be honest.
0:12:54 > 0:13:01She was there for me when I needed her the most, and that's all that matters in life really.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06- Money comes and goes, unfortunately.- A tough lesson.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11- Thanks for sharing it. Cheers, Carl.- OK.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15So, when the scam artists can be this cunning, how can you protect yourself
0:13:15 > 0:13:19against becoming a victim of a boiler room fraud?
0:13:19 > 0:13:21If it's a call out of the blue, a cold call,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25then there's a chance it's not an authorised firm
0:13:25 > 0:13:29because a proper authorised firm shouldn't be cold calling customers,
0:13:29 > 0:13:30so be very wary.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35The next thing to do, if you're tempted to deal, is to do some basic research.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Any firm offering financial services should be known to the FSA
0:13:39 > 0:13:44but of course there are scammers who impersonate FSA-registered firms.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49If someone claims to be calling from an authorised firm, they might be lying.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51They're conmen after all,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55so you've got to check you're dealing with the proper authorised firm.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58The best way to do that, do a bit of research.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Call that firm back yourself on their switchboard number.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09If you go online, it's easy enough these days to find firms
0:14:09 > 0:14:14willing to sell you tickets for big events, sports or music.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17What's more difficult, though, is guaranteeing those firms
0:14:17 > 0:14:22will still be there when it's time to collect your tickets.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25I think I'm early.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33The selling of fake or counterfeit tickets is one of the oldest scams on the block.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38Whether it's a music festival, a football match or even a world class event like the Olympics,
0:14:38 > 0:14:44anything that needs a ticket provides an excellent opportunity for scam artists to steal your cash.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47And it's not just customers who lose.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53Festival promoter and chairman of Wembley stadium, Melvin Benn, has seen the damage that conmen cause.
0:14:53 > 0:14:59It's a significant problem. It takes millions of pounds out of the industry every single year.
0:14:59 > 0:15:05Big ticket events that sell out quickly are what scammers really like.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08The way that they look at trying to do that, really,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12is by pretending that they have tickets to desperate fans.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17When fans are desperate, they're desperate. I mean, they'll do anything to get a ticket.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22If you're desperate, crikey, it's really easy to be manipulated.
0:15:22 > 0:15:28May 2011, and a massive trial is under way at Southwark Crown court.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33The main men of a company called Xclusive Leisure and Hospitality Limited
0:15:33 > 0:15:39stand accused of selling thousands of fake tickets to music festivals and the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44It's taken three years to bring them to justice, after a massive investigation
0:15:44 > 0:15:48by Simon Daniel's team from the Serious Fraud Office.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53They basically sold £5 million worth of tickets and not supplied one.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58The scam that Xclusive undertook was by far the most sophisticated I have ever come across.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Clive's just one of the many people who ended up suffering
0:16:03 > 0:16:05at the hands of Xclusive,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08when he bought tickets through them for himself and his three children
0:16:08 > 0:16:13to go and see the Beijing Olympics.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15It probably seems the trip of a lifetime.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21We were going to do the trans-Siberian express, Outer Mongolia and China, five weeks away.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26Clive had originally planned to take the rail journey for his honeymoon back in 1995.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30However, I got headhunted just before I got married
0:16:30 > 0:16:36and it was my wife's decision that we couldn't go away for five weeks.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40I had to stay here and help set up the company.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43It was therefore something we were aiming to do in the future.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48However, my wife died in 2002 so we were unable to do it together.
0:16:48 > 0:16:54Two years after his wife's death, Clive decided to take his honeymoon holiday with his children instead.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58The highlight of the trip would be tickets to the 2008 Beijing Olympics
0:16:58 > 0:17:04but he found it difficult to get them through the official outlets.
0:17:04 > 0:17:10I could only go to the secondary market, so you go online and you have all these websites.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13And the website of Xclusive Leisure and Hospitality Limited,
0:17:13 > 0:17:17that was offering Olympic tickets, caught Clive's eye.
0:17:17 > 0:17:23Well, it had, you know, all the logos. It had everything on there, it was fairly easily accessible.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26It seemed to be professionally done.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29I was able to pay with my credit card online.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32There was also a number he could ring.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35I was able to talk to people as well as go onto the website.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38- They put my mind at rest. - And the price of the tickets?
0:17:38 > 0:17:42I paid probably just over £2,000 in total,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46quite a bit above the face value. As it was the secondary market,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48I understood the fact they had to make a bit of money
0:17:48 > 0:17:52and they were also based in London, so I thought, if I did have a problem,
0:17:52 > 0:17:59at least there's an address I could go to. I was quietly confident.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03But his confidence turned out to be badly misplaced.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08As soon as I made the payment, the website went down, the phone line went down.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13I went to their office in south-east London, no-one there.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18I couldn't get... There was nothing.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Clive wasn't alone - thousands had been caught out
0:18:21 > 0:18:24and the authorities were beginning to get a sniff of the affair.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Xclusive tickets shut down on 4th August, the week before the Olympics.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32Obviously at that point there were a lot of complaints in to Trading Standards,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36relating to the non-supply of tickets.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42For people like Clive and his young family, it wasn't just money they felt cheated out of.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47It was the thought of missing the once-in-a-lifetime chance of being at the Games.
0:18:47 > 0:18:54I got stung by this company, at what I saw was pretty much the last minute.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01It was easy to see how Clive and many others had been drawn in.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05On a small scale, Xclusive had been trading legitimately for over a year,
0:19:05 > 0:19:09selling real tickets to football matches and sporting events such as Wimbledon.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14They'd built a decent reputation on internet forums and message boards.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18But Xclusive were playing the long game for big money.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21They had a long-term plan.
0:19:21 > 0:19:27They set up as a legitimate business with the absolute intention of, once the Olympics came along,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30knowing that the demand for the Olympic tickets would be so great,
0:19:30 > 0:19:35flip that into a crooked business that they would just cash in.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38And by God, they cashed in.
0:19:38 > 0:19:44One of the main men behind Xclusive - Terry Shepherd - had previous in this sort of thing.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48He'd been at three companies that had flogged a load of tickets for major events
0:19:48 > 0:19:51and then folded just before they were about to start.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58Banned from running a company again, here he was working at Xclusive
0:19:58 > 0:20:03as, ahem, a consultant, alongside the named director Allan Scott.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07This time the pair had blamed their company's collapse on the fact
0:20:07 > 0:20:13another firm called Peter's Ticketing, run by a Ricky Smith, had run off with all the money.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18So it was key to our investigation to show that was a fabrication and that Peter's Ticketing
0:20:18 > 0:20:22and Ricky Smith were a figment of Shepherd and Scott's imagination.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25To do that, Simon's team at the Serious Fraud Office
0:20:25 > 0:20:27needed to search the homes of Shepherd and Scott,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30as well as the offices of a new company the pair had set up
0:20:30 > 0:20:32called the Online Ticket Exchange.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35But first, they needed a judge to grant them search warrants.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37And everything had to be kept hush-hush.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42We didn't want to tip off the individuals
0:20:42 > 0:20:45that we were investigating because materials could go missing,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49so it's important for that period to keep our name out of the press,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51out of their attention.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53With the judge needing strong reasons
0:20:53 > 0:20:56to grant a search warrant, Simon called on the help of a department
0:20:56 > 0:20:57at the Insolvency Service -
0:20:57 > 0:21:01the Companies Investigation Branch, or CIB.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04They were due to visit Shepherd and Scott at their new offices
0:21:04 > 0:21:06to discuss Xclusive's liquidation.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Simon asked them to do some investigation on the SFO's behalf
0:21:09 > 0:21:13in the hope that the crooks would be caught off guard.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15They'd dealt with CIB in previous companies
0:21:15 > 0:21:17and they'd never been prosecuted,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20other than being disqualified as directors,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22so I don't think they were too concerned
0:21:22 > 0:21:24about those investigations.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27On their visit to Scott and Shepherd's offices,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30the CIB noticed that they had brought some of Xclusive's computers
0:21:30 > 0:21:32and documents along with them.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35They also took a screen capture of the pair's new website
0:21:35 > 0:21:38which proved they were illegally selling tickets.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40The judge granted the search warrant
0:21:40 > 0:21:43and the Serious Fraud Office led a series of coordinated raids,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45uncovering a treasure trove of evidence
0:21:45 > 0:21:48that blew the murky dealings at Xclusive wide open.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Scott, who's meant to be the director of the company,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55lived in rented accommodation in Essex,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59and Shepherd lived in a multi-million-pound house in Blackheath,
0:21:59 > 0:22:04filled with jewels and evidence of substantial holidays
0:22:04 > 0:22:06and overseas properties.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09When we saw that, it just brought home our suspicion
0:22:09 > 0:22:11that this was run by Shepherd, not Scott,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13and that Scott was a front man.
0:22:15 > 0:22:16They also seized invoices
0:22:16 > 0:22:18that apparently came from Peters Ticketing
0:22:18 > 0:22:21the firm Xclusive claimed had run off with all the money.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24And the information on these invoices meant Simon's team
0:22:24 > 0:22:27could start to dispel the illusion of Peters Ticketing
0:22:27 > 0:22:30being an actual company.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33First off, they checked the address.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36That turned out to be a post office box facility
0:22:36 > 0:22:40and Peters Ticketing was effectively just a box
0:22:40 > 0:22:44a foot long and ten inches wide.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47A guy called Peter had been paid £100 in a pub.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49He used his bank account,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51there was no monies going through the bank account,
0:22:51 > 0:22:53so a major company with no bank account.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56And the final nail in the coffin for Peters Ticketing
0:22:56 > 0:22:58were the invoices themselves.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01This is one on the right, supposedly sent to Xclusive.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05It's very basic, not a lot of information on the invoice.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08The one on the left was sent to a completely different company -
0:23:08 > 0:23:10same date, different invoice number,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14different style, individual numbers of tickets, there's a grid system.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18If Peter's ticketing had been a real company
0:23:18 > 0:23:24then these two invoices sent on the same day would have had an identical style with similar numbers,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26rather than being completely different.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29The SFO now had their case.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33The next thing was actually to charge the individuals,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35so we charged them in October 2009,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39so barely 12 months after we took on the investigation.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43The main men behind Xclusive Leisure & Hospitality Limited
0:23:43 > 0:23:47were finally brought to the dock in May 2011.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Company accountant Allan Schaverien was jailed for...
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Company Director Allan Scott was jailed for...
0:23:59 > 0:24:02And company - ahem - consultant Terence Shepherd
0:24:02 > 0:24:04was sentenced to eight years in the big house.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06The trial judge's closing comments
0:24:06 > 0:24:10displayed his very dim view of the trio's actions.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13"It's a massively cynical and utterly dishonest confidence trick
0:24:13 > 0:24:15"which is motivated by greed.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18"Shepherd, you've clearly received the lion's share of the money.
0:24:18 > 0:24:19"When you needed it, you took it.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21"It was blown on a catalogue of excess,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24"including the extraordinary expenditure of your wife."
0:24:24 > 0:24:26And no tears were shed by people like Clive,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29who had been cheated into paying for fake tickets
0:24:29 > 0:24:33by Shepherd's fraudulent company.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35It just wasn't right.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I'm quite pleased that these people are going to jail, actually,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41because they shouldn't be allowed to do things like this.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44In the end, Clive was one of the lucky ones.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46He was able to claim back the £2,000 pounds he'd lost
0:24:46 > 0:24:49thanks to his credit card insurance.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52And when he and his three children went on their trip to China,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55they managed to get into the Games after all.
0:24:55 > 0:24:56For more information and advice
0:24:56 > 0:24:59on protecting yourself against the scammers, go to...
0:25:08 > 0:25:09Now, before we go today,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13I want to find out about two of the latest scams
0:25:13 > 0:25:15that are doing the rounds right now.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17An expert from the National Fraud Authority
0:25:17 > 0:25:19is going to fill me in on the details
0:25:19 > 0:25:22and today's subject is holiday scams.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34OK, let's start with time-share. I thought that was from
0:25:34 > 0:25:37the '80s and '90s, people taking the mickey with time-shares.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41I think traditional time-share has cleaned up its act
0:25:41 > 0:25:42and there has been legislation,
0:25:42 > 0:25:44but the crooks who used to sell time-share
0:25:44 > 0:25:47have been very inventive in producing new types of products.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Something called fractionals, where they say,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51"It's a not a time-share,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53"but you actually own part of the property
0:25:53 > 0:25:55"and then you have a number of weeks."
0:25:55 > 0:25:57This is where you're actually buying a portion,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01a tiny portion of a bigger property, is that the way it works?
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Yeah. It sounds like it's an investment
0:26:03 > 0:26:05as well as a place to have your holiday.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Problem is, you sign the small print and you actually don't own that.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Remember...
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Don't be hassled into signing
0:26:12 > 0:26:14anything to do with foreign property.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Now - another holiday scam...
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Changing money - how on Earth can you be scammed that way?
0:26:18 > 0:26:22Someone will pop up and say, "D'you need your money changed?"
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Sometimes, they can look official, so they can be police officers
0:26:25 > 0:26:28or someone who pretends to be a police officer, so you get over that trust,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32you feel you need to change the money, but how do you know what the currency looks like,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34how do you know what the exchange rate is?
0:26:34 > 0:26:36It's very easy to get scammed in those circumstances.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40'To change money abroad, use an official bureau de change.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43'Failing that, keep a ready reckoner of the exchange rate
0:26:43 > 0:26:46'to avoid getting ripped off on the street.'
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Scammers will keep coming up with new and devious ways
0:26:49 > 0:26:53to get hold of our cash but, armed with a little bit of knowledge,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55you can be one step ahead.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57Stay safe - I'll see you next time.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd