:00:06. > :00:13.Hello, from Romsey and welcome to Inside Out. This is coming up
:00:13. > :00:16.tonight: Just making sure, I can see anything. We are under cover at
:00:16. > :00:23.a mail handling company with a nasty habit of pinning its
:00:23. > :00:29.customers' letters. It is quite sad, really. And we have surprises for
:00:29. > :00:35.some of the people who wrote them. Where did you get this? Oh, I do
:00:35. > :00:38.recognise this, actually. All the managing staff, thank you so much
:00:38. > :00:45.for the lovely news are received with my order informing me and my
:00:45. > :00:50.family that I had finally received this wonderful cheque. So how do we
:00:50. > :00:55.get the customers' voice is heard? I am hoping you mean to pay me.
:00:55. > :00:58.And what can the law do to stop a Hampshire company whooping off
:00:58. > :01:03.pensioners across the country. says in the letter quite
:01:03. > :01:08.categorically that if you have the allocation number which they have
:01:09. > :01:13.sent you, then you have irrefutably won that prize. Not that you may
:01:13. > :01:18.win it, you have actually won it and that they have pulled it out
:01:18. > :01:28.and they are waiting for you to send in your order so that they can
:01:28. > :01:31.send their cheque within 48 hours. You don't want to spend your father
:01:31. > :01:36.from spending his own money and it is exhausting because I did not
:01:37. > :01:46.want him to be ripped off. I am Jon Cuthill and Mrs Inside Out of the
:01:47. > :01:54.
:01:54. > :01:58.south of England. -- this is Inside This is Mrs Joan Watkins. She lives
:01:58. > :02:07.in a council flat on a pension. And for the past six months she's spent
:02:07. > :02:14.hundreds of pounds chasing a prize that doesn't exist. "you have
:02:14. > :02:18.indeed one at the unique prize, a cheque for over �130,000". For
:02:18. > :02:21.years, we have been trying to get off the mortgage but we do not get
:02:21. > :02:24.that far and I thought that would help and the boys can get a new car.
:02:25. > :02:27.It would help them so that is why I did it to.
:02:27. > :02:30.She bought health and beauty products from a mail order company
:02:30. > :02:39.which made her believe if she placed orders with them, she'd win
:02:39. > :02:43.over �130,000.. I am carefully because I only have my pension and
:02:43. > :02:46.they have got a name and address, and they are sending the stuff so
:02:46. > :02:49.how can it be a scam? She wrote to the address in
:02:49. > :02:52.Hampshire asking when her cheque would arrive. She never got a reply.
:02:52. > :03:02.What she did get was more post requesting more orders and
:03:02. > :03:03.
:03:03. > :03:06.promising prizes. Look at the state of the city. Down in this corner.
:03:06. > :03:10.- the state of the sofa. Meet Hilda and Keith Birtwistle who
:03:10. > :03:17.live on their pensions in a council bungalow. In the past five years,
:03:17. > :03:25.Hilda has spent over �16,000, also chasing a prize she would never get.
:03:25. > :03:31.She has emptied her bank account twice. He has cut my car up. --
:03:31. > :03:34.card up. I do not trust her with a chequebook. I have to hide them.
:03:34. > :03:37.Hilda too bought a whole range of soaps and potions because she was
:03:37. > :03:44.convinced she was the sole winner of the �130,000 prize. The house is
:03:44. > :03:52.now full of products they don't need. Look at that, seven bottles
:03:52. > :03:58.of the same stuff over there. We have got four, when she is using,
:03:58. > :04:01.five, four more there. Hilda is often up at 3 o'clock in
:04:01. > :04:04.the morning filling in forms and she has been sending orders several
:04:05. > :04:07.times a week. But being caught in this scam has not just emptied
:04:07. > :04:17.their bank accounts, it's having a dramatic effect on their
:04:17. > :04:20.
:04:20. > :04:26.relationship. Arguing, forever falling out. And each of us
:04:26. > :04:33.threatening to go. It is really tearing at people and I can
:04:33. > :04:36.understand these elderly people, it has really broke as a part.
:04:36. > :04:39.brokers apart. In one of her recent letters to the
:04:39. > :04:42.company, Hilda apologised that she was not able to place an order as
:04:42. > :04:46.she had spent all her savings but she said she still hadn't received
:04:46. > :04:52.any prize money. The only answer she got was once again more post
:04:52. > :04:56.requesting more orders and promising prizes. But Lady there?
:04:56. > :04:59.Does she look happy? That is the lady who got our cheque.
:04:59. > :05:01.We've uncovered evidence showing while cheques are cashed and orders
:05:01. > :05:04.processed, letters like those written by Mrs Watkins and Mrs
:05:04. > :05:12.Birtwhistle, chasing up promised winnings, are routinely thrown away
:05:12. > :05:17.unread. How much longer do we have when you pay this money out?
:05:17. > :05:21.keeps stating that if I send an order, the cheque will be sent to
:05:21. > :05:24.me. I am sorry my order is not larger. Nothing happens.
:05:24. > :05:26.The letters telling pensioners they are guaranteed winners come from a
:05:26. > :05:30.group of Belgian and French-owned companies. This year Belgian courts
:05:30. > :05:32.told one of those companies, Vital Beauty, that it would be fined for
:05:32. > :05:38.every false prize-winning promise it sent out and faced with that
:05:38. > :05:41.threat, Vital Beauty shut down its UK operation. Almost immediately
:05:41. > :05:51.though, Vital Nature, owned by the same group, sprung up with exactly
:05:51. > :05:53.the same marketing techniques. we see across many crime types in
:05:53. > :05:58.the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau when we are analysing the
:05:58. > :06:02.crimes coming through our door is that people that offer a service
:06:02. > :06:07.from the UK, companies that allege themselves as being based in the UK
:06:07. > :06:11.through the use of a particular male sending service or an
:06:11. > :06:17.accommodation address for example or a letter that has a UK phone
:06:17. > :06:23.number on it, always offers that air of "we can trust this company,
:06:23. > :06:27.perhaps it is not a danger to invest in or do business with". So
:06:27. > :06:31.it offers that legitimacy to the UK customer and it is not until you
:06:31. > :06:35.look further into that that you actually find out on a lot of
:06:35. > :06:39.occasions, they hide behind that as an air of legitimacy and the fact,
:06:39. > :06:42.they are based overseas and they are certainly not as legitimate as
:06:42. > :06:45.you think they are on first read. And that's where Emery Ltd of
:06:45. > :06:54.Romsey comes in. Emery laid off people when Vital Beauty closed but
:06:54. > :06:59.started employing them again when Vital Nature went into business.
:06:59. > :07:04.They are clearly not reading their letters, time to give them a voice.
:07:04. > :07:09.Dear friends, I enclose my ordered cheque and forms. Hope you can get
:07:09. > :07:14.my order because I am now 90 but I am in a wheelchair, cannot walk and
:07:14. > :07:16.had two heart attacks. I am a diabetic, I have got angina and am
:07:16. > :07:19.very lonely. Our loudhailer is going down a
:07:19. > :07:22.storm. Neighbouring businesses are happy to listen to letters from
:07:22. > :07:27.confused customers, which is more than can be said for Emery here in
:07:27. > :07:31.Romsey. It will help me walk again, the
:07:31. > :07:34.payment for this. One employee whose job it was to
:07:34. > :07:37.bin these letters was so appalled at the part a UK business plays in
:07:37. > :07:44.this deception that she went undercover with a camera to show
:07:44. > :07:47.what happens. Just making sure they can't see anything. Emery Ltd is
:07:47. > :07:56.the British hub for a whole range of companies ultimately owned by a
:07:56. > :07:59.man called Stephane Alech. Vital Nature. All make people believe
:07:59. > :08:05.they've won big bucks. All you have to do is place an order and
:08:05. > :08:12.thousands do just that. The letters that people write in, it is quite
:08:12. > :08:15.In Yorkshire, disabled John Chappell cares for his 88-year-old
:08:15. > :08:24.blind mother. They've been inundated with prize promise
:08:24. > :08:29.letters. It says in the letter quite categorically that if you
:08:30. > :08:36.have the allocation number which they have sent you, then you have
:08:36. > :08:44.irrefutably won that prize. I think the first one was for 148,000. Then
:08:44. > :08:50.the second one was for 135,000 and then the other was for 44,000 and
:08:50. > :08:55.so on and so forth. Not that you may win it, "you have actually won
:08:55. > :08:59.it" and may have pulled it out and they are waiting for you to send in
:08:59. > :09:02.your order so that they can send their cheque within 48 hours.
:09:02. > :09:11.They've ended up with drawers full of products they don't need many
:09:11. > :09:16.from Vital Nature. That is extra strength. Pills and potions aimed
:09:17. > :09:22.at the frail and elderly are stacked in boxes in every room.
:09:22. > :09:25.These are Lucas and mean and that is for your fitness and bones.
:09:25. > :09:31.post back order after order as soon as the prize letters arrive,
:09:31. > :09:41.desperate to follow the rules and receive the promised cheques.
:09:41. > :09:42.
:09:42. > :09:47.are talking about four per day. I was told that our Barclaycard was
:09:47. > :09:54.stopped with �7,000 on it. John is a retired West Yorkshire policeman
:09:54. > :09:57.but he still sent off dangerous personal details to confirm his win.
:09:57. > :10:04.They insisted on identification so that is a copy of the passport sent
:10:04. > :10:10.to them. Also they require a photograph of you to be used on
:10:10. > :10:16.their publication when you have won it. It is a bit like if you are a
:10:16. > :10:22.drug addict. They feed you with so much, that you have won it. That
:10:22. > :10:27.there is only one more step so you do it and then you do it again. And
:10:27. > :10:31.then at one point, somebody says, let's knock it on the head and she
:10:31. > :10:36.says no, because we will lose it. They also require another one to
:10:36. > :10:42.make sure it is the same person. It has cost us money but also it has
:10:42. > :10:52.cost us in ink from the printer which is about �80 per week. It has
:10:52. > :10:52.
:10:52. > :10:58.also cost us in stamps, about �17 per week. It is all over and above.
:10:58. > :11:05.But I would do anything for her. When you came, it hurt to know that
:11:05. > :11:13.I had been victim of a scam but I was relieved that I would not shell
:11:13. > :11:23.out any more money on a hiding to nothing. When you go so far, and
:11:23. > :11:28.
:11:28. > :11:38.having paid, you think "I will lose that money now". You might as well
:11:38. > :11:38.
:11:38. > :11:41.go to end. But you still think that you will get it. At the end but
:11:42. > :11:45.obviously they are frozen. In London the cupboards are all but
:11:45. > :11:55.bare. Jimmy has borrowed from two loan sharks to try to claim the
:11:55. > :12:04.
:12:04. > :12:07.cheques he was told were definitely He's bought boxes and boxes of
:12:07. > :12:10.goods because that's what he thought he had to do to get his
:12:10. > :12:20.promised prize, he's now paying back �130 a week on debts - leaving
:12:20. > :12:28.
:12:28. > :12:35.him just 30 quid a week to live on. Pack a kept saying, I know it is
:12:35. > :12:42.true, everything will be all right. But even my daughters told him,
:12:42. > :12:51.you're wasting your money on it, but Jimmy just wouldn't have it.
:12:51. > :12:59.Jimmy thought they were right and we were wrong. You might recognise
:12:59. > :13:06.that. I do recognise that. To all the managers and staff, to thank
:13:06. > :13:11.you for or all the things they received as my order. This is the
:13:11. > :13:17.most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me and my family. This
:13:17. > :13:22.will be life-changing for has in this time of depression and the
:13:22. > :13:29.cost of living. I cannot thank you enough and it is all down to your
:13:29. > :13:38.beautiful company Vital Nature. I was just one of the silly people
:13:38. > :13:44.that kept doing it. I was told, Mary told me to stop. That was it.
:13:44. > :13:47.But I still carried on, I thought someone had to be right. Like
:13:47. > :13:50.hundreds of others Jimmy and Mary struggled to cope with daily post
:13:51. > :14:00.suggesting that all they had to do was place one more order to get
:14:01. > :14:01.
:14:01. > :14:04.their prize. With that the letters they continually cent, in centre of
:14:04. > :14:12.sending one a month, it was every other day and I was getting fed up
:14:12. > :14:17.with the letters and I told him, please, and Jimmy, it stopped. They
:14:17. > :14:27.are using you. They are using us for their convenience and we are
:14:27. > :14:28.
:14:28. > :14:33.not going to get anything. I was right, but he would not have it. If
:14:33. > :14:41.they did not took those things, he wouldn't be in debt light years,
:14:41. > :14:45.but thank God I'm around to help him my to this trouble. -- and in
:14:45. > :14:55.debt at like he is. Near Bridgend in Wales another family called in
:14:55. > :14:56.
:14:56. > :15:00.Trading standards. My dad spent �20 per item, believing he would get a
:15:00. > :15:03.cheque. They discovered their father had bought rooms full of
:15:03. > :15:11.products many of them with foreign labels he couldn't even understand,
:15:12. > :15:17.and all because he was told he was a guaranteed winner. Initially I
:15:17. > :15:22.thought my dad had dementia, because none of it made sense. But
:15:22. > :15:27.then I realised he was convinced he had won this money. I cannot
:15:27. > :15:37.understand how it is not illegal. Anybody could telly the marketing
:15:37. > :15:42.of its illegal under products looked like a load of rubbish. He
:15:42. > :15:47.bought the products believe it he had won a competition. The letters
:15:47. > :15:52.were convincing. I've read the letters and I had to beat them
:15:52. > :15:59.quite a few times. If I hadn't read online that it was a scam, it was
:15:59. > :16:09.very difficult to work out that he had not won. It has been absolutely
:16:09. > :16:14.
:16:14. > :16:22.exhausting. I pick it up a year ago and every retried, but you do not
:16:22. > :16:30.want to stop your father from spending his own money. I did not
:16:30. > :16:36.want him to be scam that. They should be prosecuted. I cannot
:16:36. > :16:43.explain how I feel. This is the first time I have cried, because
:16:43. > :16:49.I'm getting so angry. I do not want my father to feel hurt. I'm not
:16:49. > :16:53.angry towards my father, because he has a lovely, kind man. It would
:16:53. > :17:00.make my life a lot easier if we could just push a button and make
:17:00. > :17:08.it stop. But because this is an international scam, it requires
:17:08. > :17:14.other bodies since Trading Standards. We will 81 a local a
:17:14. > :17:21.form some research into links into that business, but ultimately,
:17:21. > :17:26.action needs to be taken at a higher level. We will do what we
:17:26. > :17:29.can. All these letters came from the whistleblower who worked at
:17:29. > :17:39.Emery in Hampshire. She became suspicious when reading letters
:17:39. > :17:39.
:17:39. > :17:46.from so many people who thought they were winners. Thank you so
:17:46. > :17:56.much for your letter today. I am 87 years old, live alone because I
:17:56. > :17:58.
:17:58. > :18:03.lost my dear wife seven years ago. I do not want to lose this money.
:18:03. > :18:09.Just a note to tell you I got a letter today, because I truly think
:18:09. > :18:12.this was my cheque, but no. You see a fine return your documents and if
:18:12. > :18:19.he even more money then this handsome prize will be sent to me
:18:19. > :18:24.in a few days. When I first started working there and opening these
:18:24. > :18:28.letters, they had me convinced and I could not understand why all
:18:28. > :18:32.these two were had one. The more I opened, I thought, it cannot be
:18:32. > :18:35.that everyone has a winner. Her job was to take out cheques, process
:18:35. > :18:40.further orders and bin the rest - including photographs that had been
:18:40. > :18:50.asked for to publicise non-existent wins. Instead of binning them, she
:18:50. > :18:50.
:18:50. > :18:54.managed to sneak some out to prove the extent of the deceit. People
:18:54. > :19:03.confused, generally asking about their prize, why had they not got
:19:03. > :19:10.it yet. Asking about it and will these, I had to throw away. I am
:19:10. > :19:16.delighted to win, many thanks to everyone at Vital Nature. I have
:19:16. > :19:22.had financial problems for many years. How do you feel when you
:19:22. > :19:31.read these letters? It is heartbreaking. Sometimes I get to
:19:31. > :19:38.pop down in it and have to put them all to one side. I cannot
:19:38. > :19:41.concentrate on what I'm doing, they are all real life stories. This is
:19:41. > :19:51.Jessica Looke - a victim of the trickery facilitated by Emery in
:19:51. > :19:51.
:19:51. > :19:55.Romsey. She's since passed away, but her daughter Marilyn runs a
:19:55. > :19:58.campaign to put an end to mail order scams. Together we looked at
:19:58. > :20:01.just a handful of letters Marilyn has spoken to thousands of victims
:20:01. > :20:11.who, like her mother, truly believed they'd been singled out to
:20:11. > :20:11.
:20:11. > :20:16.win a cash prize. I hope you can read my letter. I do not see any
:20:16. > :20:21.one, because I am at the end of the lane. I look forward to getting a
:20:21. > :20:29.cheque from you, I will buy a little top and pay for some
:20:29. > :20:37.treatment to help a walk. I just keep my fingers crossed. Years
:20:37. > :20:47.since Selly. Isn't that awful? That is awful, isn't it? How can they do
:20:47. > :20:53.
:20:53. > :21:00.it? Marilyn has spoken to thousands of people who thought they were
:21:00. > :21:05.singled out to receive a cash prize. In their minds, there is still a
:21:05. > :21:09.chance that it will come. You have to keep going along with it, and
:21:09. > :21:16.the carrots they use, like the phone calls and the more letters,
:21:16. > :21:21.they are more exciting, suddenly you're special and important. Up
:21:21. > :21:24.they do not understand mass- marketing fraud. Joan Watkins was
:21:24. > :21:31.one of those who wrote chasing her prize money. This time to mail
:21:31. > :21:36.order company Phyderma via, you guessed it, Emery in Hampshire.
:21:36. > :21:42.Every time I got one, I replied and I got an order under put a sticker
:21:42. > :21:51.on the order form. You have to put it on the order form. I have done
:21:51. > :21:59.exactly what they said. And I have nothing back for myself. My son
:21:59. > :22:07.said to me, mum, you have spent too much. It is not worth it. He has
:22:07. > :22:14.said all along he thought it was a scam. But higher didn't believe it.
:22:14. > :22:24.Now for a surprise, we've got the letter she wrote. Where did you get
:22:24. > :22:26.
:22:26. > :22:31.this? I was definitely not ordering any more. That has finished me,
:22:31. > :22:37.seeing you have got hold of the letter. That should have gone to
:22:37. > :22:43.Phyderma. That has made me angry, that really has. There is no point
:22:43. > :22:50.in me pitting the anger on paper, because they will not get it. I
:22:51. > :22:54.sent it to them and that is what they do with it. It is not on.
:22:54. > :23:04.to go after the bad guys - because remember While their customers may
:23:04. > :23:18.
:23:18. > :23:21.be left all at sea, the Gebbetts You might know David if you're a
:23:21. > :23:26.member of the this Sailing Club here. He lives within spitting
:23:26. > :23:33.distance of this medina. That is when he is not swanning around New
:23:33. > :23:40.Zealand for six months of the year. His son Nick Nick name lives in
:23:40. > :23:45.Norfolk. His latest Tweet is something about taking up a cat to
:23:45. > :23:48.that bet. Nothing about running a company involved in a mass
:23:48. > :23:51.marketing scam. While their customers may be left all at sea,
:23:51. > :23:55.the Gebbetts appear to be riding high on a wave of success. Here's
:23:55. > :23:58.Dad David who often pops in for a chat at the company. And here's his
:23:58. > :24:07.son Nick who appears to be in charge. He keeps a much lower
:24:07. > :24:12.profile - not the best photo. many occasions, you find that could
:24:12. > :24:16.be the scenario, that company in the middle which provides a
:24:16. > :24:22.legitimate British service, have the guilty knowledge behind it that
:24:22. > :24:28.they're actually operating at the front end or the middle of a fraud.
:24:28. > :24:33.It has been going on for many years. When I left, probably about seven
:24:33. > :24:38.years ago, and it has been going on since then. Everybody who works
:24:38. > :24:42.there knows what's going on. The amount of times Trading Standards
:24:42. > :24:51.have come round because other people have complained, they must
:24:51. > :24:55.know. I would urge, if there is any proof available, to make that
:24:55. > :24:58.available to the national fraud intelligence bugle and put that
:24:58. > :25:03.together with the rest of the pieces of an horrific crime that
:25:03. > :25:10.has taken people's life savings, and that can be the key that opens
:25:10. > :25:12.our goal were to be able to effectively Detect and take law-
:25:12. > :25:16.enforcement action against the people who have committed these
:25:16. > :25:20.truly horrible crimes. While they throw away most letters they
:25:20. > :25:23.receive, Nick Gebett did read the one we sent him. He replied they'd
:25:23. > :25:26.only answer our questions with a statement if we used it in full and
:25:26. > :25:31.unedited. Obviously we want to hear their side of the story, but we
:25:31. > :25:35.can't go giving promises like that to anyone. But I still needed to
:25:35. > :25:38.know why they thought it was ok to do the dirty work for a French
:25:38. > :25:48.scammer. And what were the chances of that? I managed to bump into
:25:48. > :25:49.
:25:49. > :25:58.David Gebbett at his waterside home. Mr Eyre in aid? Can I ask why
:25:59. > :26:04.you're company continues to cash of the checks of vulnerable people?
:26:04. > :26:10.cannot answer questions. You are staff have been instructed to shred
:26:10. > :26:20.their letters. That is not very good customer service. I cannot
:26:20. > :26:20.
:26:20. > :26:25.comment on that. I am sorry. What do you say to these people, who
:26:25. > :26:33.have been taken for a right by these people when your company
:26:33. > :26:38.could stop it happening? If we didn't, some other company would to
:26:38. > :26:48.it. That does not make it right. Do you have nothing to say to these
:26:48. > :26:51.
:26:51. > :27:01.people? Surely you owe them something, Mr Gebbett? If they
:27:01. > :27:01.
:27:01. > :27:11.didn't do it, someone else would. Does that make it right? I have
:27:11. > :27:12.
:27:12. > :27:16.been so poorly lately and I have not been able to get out. I am
:27:16. > :27:19.writing to accept my prize. National Fraud intelligence bureau
:27:19. > :27:25.has asked to see our evidence. They say they're keen to take action
:27:25. > :27:31.against any companies that operate to deceive members of the public.
:27:31. > :27:37.We are closing in on you, if you're in the UK or operating outside the
:27:37. > :27:41.country. We will do what we can for our community to stop them being
:27:41. > :27:46.victims of your creed and your criminality. I asked my number was
:27:46. > :27:52.the winning number, I am hoping you mean to pay me. At this moment in
:27:52. > :28:01.time, I am living on just that, hold. I think our work here is done.
:28:01. > :28:10.I think we have truly given them a voice. Don't forget, the advice
:28:10. > :28:18.from action fraud is, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
:28:18. > :28:26.I promise we do read every single e-mail. Week 2 not throw them away.
:28:26. > :28:36.See you next week. Next Monday, we are on the trail of the South's
:28:36. > :28:36.
:28:36. > :28:41.rarest plants. Am I facing the right direction? Is there any way
:28:41. > :28:48.today I would be allowed in to see them? The would have to knock you