0:00:02 > 0:00:05Thieves will steal our cars, our valuables,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09just about anything they can get their hands on.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11To cut down on crime and antisocial behaviour,
0:00:11 > 0:00:14police and other agencies are using new technology
0:00:14 > 0:00:18and tactics where the bad guys are actually getting caught in the act.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22I can see the man actually commit the robbery. Lovely! Thank you very much.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Local councils, shops and businesses are laying some traps of their own.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Why should we feel frightened for the rest of our lives?
0:00:29 > 0:00:32And the general public, too, can help unsuspecting crooks
0:00:32 > 0:00:33get their comeuppance.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35No way are you getting away!
0:00:35 > 0:00:38We did it for everyone else, as well, that she might be stealing from.
0:00:38 > 0:00:39We will name and shame you.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43So, anyone who's up to no good had better think twice.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46They might just get caught red-handed.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Today...
0:00:54 > 0:00:57a tale of missing mail and stolen identity.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Well, I was quite stunned, really, cos we live in a place where
0:01:00 > 0:01:01nobody passes.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Steve hatches a plan to catch the culprit.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09And it leads to the arrest of one of Britain's most notorious fraudsters.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Also today, performance artists? No.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Shoplifters who put on a show to cover their crime.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20She says, "Come feel how cold it is." She puts her hand on my cheek there.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22As soon as she did that, my guard went down.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26But the cameras are rolling. This performance is on TV.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31And the disappearing motorcycle that kick-starts a campaign
0:01:31 > 0:01:32to catch bike thieves.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Hemyock in Devon...
0:01:50 > 0:01:52situated in the Blackdown Hills,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55it's an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59and not the sort of place where you'd expect to find a crimewave.
0:02:00 > 0:02:06But this tiny hamlet has been a key location in a large-scale scam.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Over the years that I've been on CID,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12this is definitely the biggest fraud I've dealt with.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Local residents, like Steve, try to live like the TV show,
0:02:16 > 0:02:17The Good Life.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23When something bad comes along, they can be just as self-sufficient.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26I just thought, "I got the bugger!"
0:02:26 > 0:02:28That was...that's all I thought.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31At first, Steve, a roofer by trade,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35doesn't know the scale of the crime he's dealing with, but, eventually,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39his hard work will uncover a sophisticated credit card fraud.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47DUCKS QUACK
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Steve lives just outside Hemyock Village with his wife and family.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55It's just a rural little hamlet with half a dozen houses,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58and we all know each other, so...
0:02:58 > 0:03:01yeah, anything different we would know of something.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Being off the beaten track a bit,
0:03:03 > 0:03:05there aren't many who come through this way.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08The only daily visitor is the postman.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10One day I received my mail
0:03:10 > 0:03:13and I had this letter from a credit card company.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17"Your balance is £6,119.95."
0:03:17 > 0:03:20I looked and it was my name, my address and my postcode!
0:03:22 > 0:03:24I thought, "Well, I know it's not me."
0:03:24 > 0:03:26And I was going to just throw it in the bin,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28probably like a lot of other people would have done,
0:03:28 > 0:03:33but my wife and some friends said that you ought to just ring
0:03:33 > 0:03:37the company anyway and tell them that it's not you and see what they say.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Fortunately, Steve does make that call
0:03:40 > 0:03:44and the credit card company tells him some very disturbing news.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48It looks like some of his post is most likely being stolen.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53I was quite stunned, really, cos we live in a place where nobody passes.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56It's only the mailman...you know, obviously.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59Like many other houses in rural areas,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Steve's postbox isn't in the front door of his house.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04I put the mailbox there cos I thought it would be quite
0:04:04 > 0:04:06easy for the postman.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09He doesn't have to get out of his van, he just pokes it straight
0:04:09 > 0:04:13through in the flap here and then I just collect it from the back, like.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20The problem is someone else could easily collect it too.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Not only can someone steal your mail -
0:04:22 > 0:04:26it turns out, they can steal your entire identity.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31Stealing post from somebody's postbox, that's just the beginning.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35All that was, really, was to get the initial information,
0:04:35 > 0:04:40to get the person's details cos then once he's got those details,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44he can go online and he can find out everything
0:04:44 > 0:04:48he needs to know about those people - their dates of birth,
0:04:48 > 0:04:54their children's names...and by doing so, you can actually
0:04:54 > 0:04:58gather a lot of information when you go to apply for the credit cards.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02And if the credit card company only has information about you,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05then it's you they'll track down to get their money back.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06It's stressful.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10My wife worried probably more than I did, and trying to
0:05:10 > 0:05:15get your credit rating back, as well, is another task in itself.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18The fallout from having a low credit rating can bring misery
0:05:18 > 0:05:22if you need any sort of loan, and it can take many months
0:05:22 > 0:05:25of battling the system to get it back to where it should be.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Credit card fraud is slightly regarded as a victimless crime
0:05:29 > 0:05:33because it's the credit card company at the end of the day,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36they're the ones that are out of pocket,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38but it's not a victimless crime.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40It's very, very much a crime that affects people
0:05:40 > 0:05:43and affects them quite badly.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Steve is incensed by what's happened, so he starts his own
0:05:47 > 0:05:51investigation to find the identity of his identity thief.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54To try and eliminate who it could be, whether it was the postman or
0:05:54 > 0:05:57whether it was just somebody coming to my house, I thought,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59"One of the first things I'll do is
0:05:59 > 0:06:02"I'll put a little stone on the side of my gate." So that,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05if somebody comes in the gate, the stone will have obviously moved.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07All that week, the stone was getting moved,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11so I knew immediately then that it was nothing to do with the mailman.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14At that time, Steve and his wife were working away
0:06:14 > 0:06:17from home on weekdays, so, he enlisted the help of a neighbour.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19I said, "Do you think there's any chance that
0:06:19 > 0:06:23"you could just have a look tomorrow after the mailman comes?
0:06:23 > 0:06:26"Just see if anybody does come."
0:06:26 > 0:06:29And sure enough, he gives me a call on my mobile
0:06:29 > 0:06:31to say that a black vehicle
0:06:31 > 0:06:34has been down through and had stopped,
0:06:34 > 0:06:39but he couldn't really see the plate or nothing and he had a baldish head.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43That's all the description he gave me, but it was something.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Now, they know to keep an eye out for a similar car.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50I was working down in the orchard with me dad
0:06:50 > 0:06:53and my wife was out the front here,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58and a black four-by-four came down and he was on the mobile phone
0:06:58 > 0:07:02while he was driving, but we don't get no mobile phone signal here,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06so it sort of...it did make us really suspicious.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09My wife, obviously, took the plate number
0:07:09 > 0:07:11and that's how we first knew then...
0:07:11 > 0:07:15We didn't know who we had, but that was the first signs of, you know,
0:07:15 > 0:07:19that we did get the right person we thought was doing something.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Steve informs the police about what he's found out so far,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26but from their point of view, there's not enough yet to go on.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29I'm not sure up until that point that Mr Broomfield had
0:07:29 > 0:07:32actually seen the person go to his postbox,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35he just knew that somebody was coming cos he was suspicious,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37so for us that would have been really difficult
0:07:37 > 0:07:38cos there's not a lot to go on.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Spurred on to gather more evidence, Steve comes up with another plan.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49I went to the local store and bought a little CCTV camera.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Not a very big one, just a very small basic one, really.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Um, the first couple of places I put it,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59I tried putting it back here in the hedge
0:07:59 > 0:08:02so I could sort of see who it was coming down the road,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06but unfortunately, this thing's only got, like, a 5m range on it,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09which wasn't... It was too far away.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Another place I put it was...I took the end cap of my gutter off and
0:08:13 > 0:08:17I sat the camera inside the gutter, just looking out around the corner.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23It may look small, but that little camera can show Steve
0:08:23 > 0:08:26and the police a bigger picture of what's going on.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36Later, police put a name to the man who's been stealing names.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40It's a fishy business and they've landed a very big fish.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49A picture tells a thousand words, but the picture of a criminal
0:08:49 > 0:08:52caught on camera tells a thousand people who to look out for.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04This is the car park of an office building in Farringdon, London.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08If you look at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11a motorbike has been parked.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14The bike doesn't belong to any of these three men,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17but they're very keen to take it away.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22This is Ken, the bike's owner,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26and he's very proud of his brand-new Triumph superbike.
0:09:26 > 0:09:32It's worth £12,000 and he's normally careful where he leaves it,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35but today he's only popped into his office for five minutes.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40A man on a push-bike arrives.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44After a quick scout around, he heads off.
0:09:47 > 0:09:48But four minutes later,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52he comes back and goes into the door of the office building.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54He's making sure Ken doesn't suddenly appear...
0:09:56 > 0:09:59..because outside, his accomplice turns up on a moped.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03He shakes the bike to see if it's alarmed.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08It's not.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Now, the third man cycles up.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14His speciality is breaking steering locks.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21Job done. Now, number two comes back without his moped.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26He seems to be having some trouble with the ignition.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Eventually, they hot-wire it
0:10:30 > 0:10:33and make off with Ken's £12,000 superbike.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39The lookout makes his exit too, though not before struggling
0:10:39 > 0:10:43with the door, the only tense moment in this whole operation.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Ken never got his bike back,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50but he put these CCTV pictures on the internet and gave them
0:10:50 > 0:10:55to the police, and later one of the thieves admitted guilt.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03But Ken's gone further and set up a website so motorcycle theft victims
0:11:03 > 0:11:07can share their experiences and point out the bad guys in the area.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11He wants to make sure that the new superbike that he's bought
0:11:11 > 0:11:15with the insurance money stays more secure than the last one.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Career criminals can rob you in a matter of seconds,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29so make sure everything is secured every time.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Even if you're just popping into the office or popping to the shops,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36go through all your safety measures.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41Make sure your car or your bike is secured every time.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Coming up on Caught Red Handed,
0:11:44 > 0:11:49one of these customers is a shoplifter, but which one?
0:11:49 > 0:11:52You do have to try and work out who are the genuine ones,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54who are the crafty ones.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58But spotting those crafty ones is easier with an extra set of eyes.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Back in Hemyock, Devon...
0:12:12 > 0:12:16Steve, a local roofer, is trying to discover who it is that's
0:12:16 > 0:12:22stolen his identity and used it to spend £6,000 on a credit card.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25He's found that a man raids his mailbox shortly after
0:12:25 > 0:12:28the post has been delivered.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31He used to come back for any statements cos
0:12:31 > 0:12:34if you had no statement, you had no idea a card was out in your name.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Steve has set up a small CCTV camera.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41I sat the camera inside the gutter just looking out around the corner.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Hopefully, to catch the thief in the act.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48All that week, I used to come home like a little boy going to
0:12:48 > 0:12:53a sweet tin, really, going up to see what I caught on
0:12:53 > 0:12:55my, um...you know, film.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Steve's camera triggers to record when it senses movement
0:13:00 > 0:13:03and only records in four-second bursts,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06but it manages to capture a fraudster at work.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12A car parks up right outside Steve's house.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15The man casually walks to the gate and, without hesitating,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18enters Steve's property.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21He's checking the postbox for any correspondence from
0:13:21 > 0:13:25a credit card company or bank, then he beats a hasty retreat.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28I couldn't believe it when I saw it the first time.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30There you see him just going to the mailbox,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32but there was nothing in there that day.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34This is day two.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36He came down the road.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Once again, goes into the mailbox.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41This day I've got some mail.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44The thief seems to visit every day,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47so, Steve experiments with some different camera angles.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49The mailman always used to be about 11 o'clock.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51By ten past, he'd be behind him.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54He was so abrasive, I just couldn't believe it.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57This was the last day he came to my house.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59He's making out he's dropping off some mail.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02I had the camera on the top of the dish
0:14:02 > 0:14:05and I was pretty sure that that was the day that he actually saw
0:14:05 > 0:14:09the camera and I thought that would be the end of it.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13Steve now has proof of the man's face,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16his number plate and what he's up to.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18I thought, "I've got the bugger!"
0:14:18 > 0:14:20That's all I thought.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23I just...I still didn't know the bloke, no idea who he was,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26you know, never seen him before, so, I just thought,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29"I got him," and that's...that was it, really.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31He gives the footage to the police
0:14:31 > 0:14:36and it lands on the desk of Detective Constable Allison Berry.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39When the case first came in, it came in as theft from a postbox.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44So, initially, it didn't appear to be anything terribly serious,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47but then when I saw the CCTV, I then obtained
0:14:47 > 0:14:51the details of the person's car, did a check and got the name.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Allison makes a quick search of that name on the internet.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58It came up with a press release.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03I think the title of the press release was Casanova Conman.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07The man's name is Kevin Castle, who's well known both to the police
0:15:07 > 0:15:09and to the British press.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12He's a career criminal with a long history of scams that have
0:15:12 > 0:15:16netted him hundreds of thousands of pounds over the years.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21In 2008, he had been caught and sent to prison for...I think there
0:15:21 > 0:15:27were 11 counts of deception and 76 offences taken into account.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29On that occasion, he had been arrested for a major
0:15:29 > 0:15:34shoplifting scam as well as stealing from unfortunate lady friends.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39At that time, he was living quite a luxury lifestyle -
0:15:39 > 0:15:42an apartment in Knightsbridge, shopping in Harrods,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45his cars were all BMWs, Porsches, and obviously,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49that was all funded by his criminality.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Most of his crimes had occurred in the Nottinghamshire area.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Since leaving prison two years before, he's worked out a new
0:15:56 > 0:16:00method of stealing money - plundering rural postboxes in Devon.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03What he hadn't banked on was the detective work of
0:16:03 > 0:16:05local roofer, Steve.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09I followed him for days just working out where he went to
0:16:09 > 0:16:12and I pinpointed two or three other letter boxes that
0:16:12 > 0:16:14I was pretty sure that he would be doing.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18The red line is Kevin Castle's address
0:16:18 > 0:16:22and the blue are the victims, so you can see they've quite close
0:16:22 > 0:16:24proximity to where his actual house was.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Allison and a search team pay a visit to Kevin Castle's house.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34It's quite a big long driveway down to this large house
0:16:34 > 0:16:37and Mr Castle, at that moment in time,
0:16:37 > 0:16:39was in the field with his horses
0:16:39 > 0:16:45and he was easily identifiable as being the person from the CCTV.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49The conman is arrested and after an extensive search,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51police find a tin full of credit cards,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54statements and ledgers buried deep in a large hedge.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01A bank statement in somebody else's name in a tin buried in
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Mr Castle's garden - it was like the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08It just sort of... Cream on the cake!
0:17:12 > 0:17:16In court, Kevin Castle was found guilty on 28 charges
0:17:16 > 0:17:17of fraud and theft.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22He was sentenced to four years in prison.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28It was very rewarding when we got the conviction that we got.
0:17:28 > 0:17:29It was very rewarding
0:17:29 > 0:17:35and it was nice to be able to ring the victims and say,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37"This is what's happened."
0:17:37 > 0:17:40A lot of thanks is also due to Mr Broomfield, we can't forget
0:17:40 > 0:17:43about him cos he played a big part in the beginning, so he did.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48After a long year of battling the paperwork...
0:17:48 > 0:17:51As you can see, statements upon statements...
0:17:51 > 0:17:53..getting his credit card rating back up...
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Back to 997 now.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01- ..and moving his postbox. - Which I've put in my new white door.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Life is back to normal for Steve, although he was called out
0:18:05 > 0:18:08one evening in honour of helping to put away one of Britain's most
0:18:08 > 0:18:10notorious conmen.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13I was awarded the High Sheriff of Devon Award.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14It's nice to have...you know,
0:18:14 > 0:18:18to think that somebody else has actually thought that you have
0:18:18 > 0:18:22done something well worth, you know, doing, and at personal risk.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34So, how do we protect ourselves from identity thieves?
0:18:34 > 0:18:38You wouldn't leave your laptop outside for someone to take,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41so don't do it with your personal details either.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Make sure, if you've got an outdoor letter box, you secure it
0:18:44 > 0:18:46and keep it locked so people can't steal your mail
0:18:46 > 0:18:48and valuable personal information.
0:18:48 > 0:18:49Make sure any documents
0:18:49 > 0:18:53and papers you wish to put in the bin are really well shredded.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56If you find someone has stolen your identity or stolen a
0:18:56 > 0:18:59credit card or opened an account in your name, don't just inform
0:18:59 > 0:19:03your bank, make sure you report it to the police or Action Fraud.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09People who want to steal from us can be both calculating and cunning.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11They might dress smartly or act friendly
0:19:11 > 0:19:13so that we don't suspect them.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18They might even put on an act to distract us from their real purpose.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27This man in South London seems to be in the middle of
0:19:27 > 0:19:29a very important conversation,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32talking loudly into his phone.
0:19:32 > 0:19:33It's a ploy to buy him time
0:19:33 > 0:19:38because he's not here to buy anything else, he's here to steal.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41He stops by a confectionary section.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Making use of the distraction caused by another customer, he swiftly
0:19:45 > 0:19:49stuffs four boxes of chocolates into his large white plastic bag.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55And then, why not? Another one!
0:19:56 > 0:20:00Deep in loud conversation, he still manages to escape suspicion
0:20:00 > 0:20:03and takes two more boxes.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09A member of staff appears. This could make things trickier.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14But the thief with a sweet tooth is clearly a sweet talker too.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18He pretends to be asking for directions...
0:20:18 > 0:20:21presumably to where the next chocolate stockist is.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25It seems to work and allows him even more time,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28so, he goes back to his favourite section.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Two more boxes are grabbed,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33but this time he has to take evasive action
0:20:33 > 0:20:37because of a paying customer and then takes advantage of that
0:20:37 > 0:20:40customer paying to nab two more boxes.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Stealing 11 boxes of chocolate is obviously thirsty work
0:20:46 > 0:20:49because he snatches a nice bottle of wine as well!
0:20:51 > 0:20:55And, still nattering away to nobody, he leaves.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57The chocoholic shoplifter hasn't been caught yet,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59but, if he goes through that lot,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03he might turn up at a diet club or the dentists for a few fillings.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09- Thank you. - You're welcome.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11In a busy shop, it's impossible to keep on checking
0:21:11 > 0:21:14the security cameras for shoplifters.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19'At times, shopkeepers need to rely on old-fashioned gut instinct.'
0:21:21 > 0:21:24How a thief behaves in the first few seconds of walking in,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27can often give them away, but if they're good actors,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30first impressions can be deceptive.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42In Cambridge, this convenience store enjoys a busy trade as workers
0:21:42 > 0:21:45pick up groceries on their way home.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46A woman with a pushchair comes in.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51She happily chats with the assistant,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53showing him how cold it is outside.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58Everything looks normal.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02But this woman will walk out of the store without
0:22:02 > 0:22:05paying for £80 worth of goods.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07That's a lot of money for a small shop to lose.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12The young shop assistant is about to be treated to
0:22:12 > 0:22:16a masterclass in shoplifting, a lesson he'll never forget.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27This shop has been run by Iftikhar and his family for nearly ten years.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31It's good to be a shopkeeper, it's good fun...
0:22:31 > 0:22:33and sometimes not.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38His son, Moghees, started helping out when he was 13 years old.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41After school or at the weekend, I used to come in to give Dad
0:22:41 > 0:22:44a hand, basically, like, help him for an hour or two.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47It's been good for me to see how he works at picking out the people,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50cos lots of people say it's going to be mine one day.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52The shop has changed over the years.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Iftikhar has expanded it in stages to keep profit margins up.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01There's one group of customers who've always been around -
0:23:01 > 0:23:02the shoplifters.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05The past ten years, it's on the increase.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08It's not, you know, declined, it's more and more.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11So, most of the times, customers are actually very good,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15but you do have to try and work out who are the genuine ones,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17who are the crafty ones.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21And there's a lot at stake if they don't stop those crafty ones.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27I lose about 5-6% of my yearly sale to shoplifting
0:23:27 > 0:23:30and I'm touching roughly half a million.
0:23:30 > 0:23:355% of half a million turnover is a massive £25,000 a year,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39and that sort of sum can really damage a small business.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45When this lady with a pushchair enters the store,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Moghees is working alone on a winter's evening.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53She's been here numerous times before, and my dad said to me
0:23:53 > 0:23:56that you've got to be a bit careful with her sometimes
0:23:56 > 0:23:59because she had the tendency to be a bit too friendly,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02but I thought maybe my dad was overreacting a little bit.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05- The woman calls Moghees over. - She says, "Come here. Come here.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07"Come feel my hand, feel how cold it is."
0:24:07 > 0:24:11And then I walk over, around the counter towards her, she puts
0:24:11 > 0:24:14her hand on my cheek there and I agree, "Yeah, that's really cold."
0:24:15 > 0:24:18As soon as she did that, she gained my trust
0:24:18 > 0:24:21and when she did that, like, my guard went down.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27The friendly mum sets off for a mooch around the aisles.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30While Moghees serves another customer,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34she's actually stuffing as much as she can into her bags.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38When someone is a mother, it does make you think that she's
0:24:38 > 0:24:42a very caring person and automatically someone you can trust.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Satisfied with her haul, she heads towards Moghees.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48She comes back to me and then she says,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51"Oh, can you give me a box so I can do my shopping in it?"
0:24:51 > 0:24:54This light-fingered lady sets off once more round the aisles
0:24:54 > 0:24:56with a box.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59At the moment, she putting on a bit of a show, basically.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02She's making it look like, "OK, I've done my browsing now.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04"Now I'm ready to start purchasing."
0:25:04 > 0:25:08With the box full, she returns to Moghees at the counter.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11First she asked me, "I need to top up my gas and my electric."
0:25:11 > 0:25:13So, she gave me her gas card, she gave me
0:25:13 > 0:25:15her key for her electricity and then I topped it up
0:25:15 > 0:25:19and then it totalled to £35 and I gave it back to her with
0:25:19 > 0:25:21the receipts and then she realised...
0:25:21 > 0:25:24"She realised!" that she didn't have any cash on her.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27But it's OK, a solution is found.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29She's going to pop to the cashpoint
0:25:29 > 0:25:33and come back in five minutes to pay for her shopping in the box.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35As soon as she walked out and left the shop,
0:25:35 > 0:25:37I just realised at that moment there that
0:25:37 > 0:25:39she's not coming back, basically,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42and then I realised that everything that my dad talked about her
0:25:42 > 0:25:44being too friendly, I just remembered everything
0:25:44 > 0:25:46and I just felt really bad about that.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Moghees breaks the news to his father.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56When he told me that she did top up for, you know,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59gas and electric, £35, and she didn't come back, I said,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03"It's not £35, it's a lot more." We checked the video and I said,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05"Moghees, you see what happened?"
0:26:05 > 0:26:09£35 with top up, plus £60 other stuff.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12That made me feel even worse and even more upset.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14She set a trap for me, basically,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and I just fell for it, just like that.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19But they had a trap of their own -
0:26:19 > 0:26:23the CCTV cameras, and they hand the evidence over to the police.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28When the shoplifter is eventually arrested for another offence,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30she is matched to this one too.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36In court, she pleads guilty, which is taken into account.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42She's given a community order for 20 days of unpaid work,
0:26:42 > 0:26:47a 12-month supervision order and has to pay £65 compensation.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53It's been a tough lesson learned for Moghees,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57but one that may help to prevent any more thefts.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00The best thing for me to do is just to move on from it
0:27:00 > 0:27:01and learn that, you know,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04just how to deal with people like that again in the future,
0:27:04 > 0:27:05because there are, unfortunately,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08there are people like that and then you can't avoid it,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11but the best thing that you can do is just to face it and then,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13when you do face it, don't make the same mistakes again,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17just do it and...you know, stand...stay strong, basically.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Iftikhar has also now strengthened his security with a larger
0:27:24 > 0:27:26array of the latest cameras.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29As soon as something's happened, we can access it on the computer.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31And a new gadget on the door.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35If ever a customer has done anything crafty like that, we just
0:27:35 > 0:27:37lock the door and they can't leave and we can keep them there.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Once they retrieve their stolen items,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42they then ban the shoplifter from coming back.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44I'd rather, you know, let them go.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Not waste my time, not waste police time, you know.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48'Hopefully, in the future,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52'their goods will stay in and the bad customers will stay out.'
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Join us next time when more crooks
0:27:58 > 0:28:00and con artists get caught red-handed.