29/10/2012 Inside Out South

Hello, from Romsey and welcome to Inside Out. This is coming up

tonight: Just making sure, I can see anything. We are under cover at

a mail handling company with a nasty habit of pinning its

customers' letters. It is quite sad, really. And we have surprises for

some of the people who wrote them. Where did you get this? Oh, I do

recognise this, actually. All the managing staff, thank you so much

for the lovely news are received with my order informing me and my

family that I had finally received this wonderful cheque. So how do we

get the customers' voice is heard? I am hoping you mean to pay me.

And what can the law do to stop a Hampshire company whooping off

pensioners across the country. says in the letter quite

categorically that if you have the allocation number which they have

sent you, then you have irrefutably won that prize. Not that you may

win it, you have actually won it and that they have pulled it out

and they are waiting for you to send in your order so that they can

send their cheque within 48 hours. You don't want to spend your father

from spending his own money and it is exhausting because I did not

want him to be ripped off. I am Jon Cuthill and Mrs Inside Out of the

south of England. -- this is Inside This is Mrs Joan Watkins. She lives

in a council flat on a pension. And for the past six months she's spent

hundreds of pounds chasing a prize that doesn't exist. "you have

indeed one at the unique prize, a cheque for over �130,000". For

years, we have been trying to get off the mortgage but we do not get

that far and I thought that would help and the boys can get a new car.

It would help them so that is why I did it to.

She bought health and beauty products from a mail order company

which made her believe if she placed orders with them, she'd win

over �130,000.. I am carefully because I only have my pension and

they have got a name and address, and they are sending the stuff so

how can it be a scam? She wrote to the address in

Hampshire asking when her cheque would arrive. She never got a reply.

What she did get was more post requesting more orders and

promising prizes. Look at the state of the city. Down in this corner.

- the state of the sofa. Meet Hilda and Keith Birtwistle who

live on their pensions in a council bungalow. In the past five years,

Hilda has spent over �16,000, also chasing a prize she would never get.

She has emptied her bank account twice. He has cut my car up. --

card up. I do not trust her with a chequebook. I have to hide them.

Hilda too bought a whole range of soaps and potions because she was

convinced she was the sole winner of the �130,000 prize. The house is

now full of products they don't need. Look at that, seven bottles

of the same stuff over there. We have got four, when she is using,

five, four more there. Hilda is often up at 3 o'clock in

the morning filling in forms and she has been sending orders several

times a week. But being caught in this scam has not just emptied

their bank accounts, it's having a dramatic effect on their

relationship. Arguing, forever falling out. And each of us

threatening to go. It is really tearing at people and I can

understand these elderly people, it has really broke as a part.

brokers apart. In one of her recent letters to the

company, Hilda apologised that she was not able to place an order as

she had spent all her savings but she said she still hadn't received

any prize money. The only answer she got was once again more post

requesting more orders and promising prizes. But Lady there?

Does she look happy? That is the lady who got our cheque.

We've uncovered evidence showing while cheques are cashed and orders

processed, letters like those written by Mrs Watkins and Mrs

Birtwhistle, chasing up promised winnings, are routinely thrown away

unread. How much longer do we have when you pay this money out?

keeps stating that if I send an order, the cheque will be sent to

me. I am sorry my order is not larger. Nothing happens.

The letters telling pensioners they are guaranteed winners come from a

group of Belgian and French-owned companies. This year Belgian courts

told one of those companies, Vital Beauty, that it would be fined for

every false prize-winning promise it sent out and faced with that

threat, Vital Beauty shut down its UK operation. Almost immediately

though, Vital Nature, owned by the same group, sprung up with exactly

the same marketing techniques. we see across many crime types in

the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau when we are analysing the

crimes coming through our door is that people that offer a service

from the UK, companies that allege themselves as being based in the UK

through the use of a particular male sending service or an

accommodation address for example or a letter that has a UK phone

number on it, always offers that air of "we can trust this company,

perhaps it is not a danger to invest in or do business with". So

it offers that legitimacy to the UK customer and it is not until you

look further into that that you actually find out on a lot of

occasions, they hide behind that as an air of legitimacy and the fact,

they are based overseas and they are certainly not as legitimate as

you think they are on first read. And that's where Emery Ltd of

Romsey comes in. Emery laid off people when Vital Beauty closed but

started employing them again when Vital Nature went into business.

They are clearly not reading their letters, time to give them a voice.

Dear friends, I enclose my ordered cheque and forms. Hope you can get

my order because I am now 90 but I am in a wheelchair, cannot walk and

had two heart attacks. I am a diabetic, I have got angina and am

very lonely. Our loudhailer is going down a

storm. Neighbouring businesses are happy to listen to letters from

confused customers, which is more than can be said for Emery here in

Romsey. It will help me walk again, the

payment for this. One employee whose job it was to

bin these letters was so appalled at the part a UK business plays in

this deception that she went undercover with a camera to show

what happens. Just making sure they can't see anything. Emery Ltd is

the British hub for a whole range of companies ultimately owned by a

man called Stephane Alech. Vital Nature. All make people believe

they've won big bucks. All you have to do is place an order and

thousands do just that. The letters that people write in, it is quite

In Yorkshire, disabled John Chappell cares for his 88-year-old

blind mother. They've been inundated with prize promise

letters. It says in the letter quite categorically that if you

have the allocation number which they have sent you, then you have

irrefutably won that prize. I think the first one was for 148,000. Then

the second one was for 135,000 and then the other was for 44,000 and

so on and so forth. Not that you may win it, "you have actually won

it" and may have pulled it out and they are waiting for you to send in

your order so that they can send their cheque within 48 hours.

They've ended up with drawers full of products they don't need many

from Vital Nature. That is extra strength. Pills and potions aimed

at the frail and elderly are stacked in boxes in every room.

These are Lucas and mean and that is for your fitness and bones.

post back order after order as soon as the prize letters arrive,

desperate to follow the rules and receive the promised cheques.

are talking about four per day. I was told that our Barclaycard was

stopped with �7,000 on it. John is a retired West Yorkshire policeman

but he still sent off dangerous personal details to confirm his win.

They insisted on identification so that is a copy of the passport sent

to them. Also they require a photograph of you to be used on

their publication when you have won it. It is a bit like if you are a

drug addict. They feed you with so much, that you have won it. That

there is only one more step so you do it and then you do it again. And

then at one point, somebody says, let's knock it on the head and she

says no, because we will lose it. They also require another one to

make sure it is the same person. It has cost us money but also it has

cost us in ink from the printer which is about �80 per week. It has

also cost us in stamps, about �17 per week. It is all over and above.

But I would do anything for her. When you came, it hurt to know that

I had been victim of a scam but I was relieved that I would not shell

out any more money on a hiding to nothing. When you go so far, and

having paid, you think "I will lose that money now". You might as well

go to end. But you still think that you will get it. At the end but

obviously they are frozen. In London the cupboards are all but

bare. Jimmy has borrowed from two loan sharks to try to claim the

cheques he was told were definitely He's bought boxes and boxes of

goods because that's what he thought he had to do to get his

promised prize, he's now paying back �130 a week on debts - leaving

him just 30 quid a week to live on. Pack a kept saying, I know it is

true, everything will be all right. But even my daughters told him,

you're wasting your money on it, but Jimmy just wouldn't have it.

Jimmy thought they were right and we were wrong. You might recognise

that. I do recognise that. To all the managers and staff, to thank

you for or all the things they received as my order. This is the

most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me and my family. This

will be life-changing for has in this time of depression and the

cost of living. I cannot thank you enough and it is all down to your

beautiful company Vital Nature. I was just one of the silly people

that kept doing it. I was told, Mary told me to stop. That was it.

But I still carried on, I thought someone had to be right. Like

hundreds of others Jimmy and Mary struggled to cope with daily post

suggesting that all they had to do was place one more order to get

their prize. With that the letters they continually cent, in centre of

sending one a month, it was every other day and I was getting fed up

with the letters and I told him, please, and Jimmy, it stopped. They

are using you. They are using us for their convenience and we are

not going to get anything. I was right, but he would not have it. If

they did not took those things, he wouldn't be in debt light years,

but thank God I'm around to help him my to this trouble. -- and in

debt at like he is. Near Bridgend in Wales another family called in

Trading standards. My dad spent �20 per item, believing he would get a

cheque. They discovered their father had bought rooms full of

products many of them with foreign labels he couldn't even understand,

and all because he was told he was a guaranteed winner. Initially I

thought my dad had dementia, because none of it made sense. But

then I realised he was convinced he had won this money. I cannot

understand how it is not illegal. Anybody could telly the marketing

of its illegal under products looked like a load of rubbish. He

bought the products believe it he had won a competition. The letters

were convincing. I've read the letters and I had to beat them

quite a few times. If I hadn't read online that it was a scam, it was

very difficult to work out that he had not won. It has been absolutely

exhausting. I pick it up a year ago and every retried, but you do not

want to stop your father from spending his own money. I did not

want him to be scam that. They should be prosecuted. I cannot

explain how I feel. This is the first time I have cried, because

I'm getting so angry. I do not want my father to feel hurt. I'm not

angry towards my father, because he has a lovely, kind man. It would

make my life a lot easier if we could just push a button and make

it stop. But because this is an international scam, it requires

other bodies since Trading Standards. We will 81 a local a

form some research into links into that business, but ultimately,

action needs to be taken at a higher level. We will do what we

can. All these letters came from the whistleblower who worked at

Emery in Hampshire. She became suspicious when reading letters

from so many people who thought they were winners. Thank you so

much for your letter today. I am 87 years old, live alone because I

lost my dear wife seven years ago. I do not want to lose this money.

Just a note to tell you I got a letter today, because I truly think

this was my cheque, but no. You see a fine return your documents and if

he even more money then this handsome prize will be sent to me

in a few days. When I first started working there and opening these

letters, they had me convinced and I could not understand why all

these two were had one. The more I opened, I thought, it cannot be

that everyone has a winner. Her job was to take out cheques, process

further orders and bin the rest - including photographs that had been

asked for to publicise non-existent wins. Instead of binning them, she

managed to sneak some out to prove the extent of the deceit. People

confused, generally asking about their prize, why had they not got

it yet. Asking about it and will these, I had to throw away. I am

delighted to win, many thanks to everyone at Vital Nature. I have

had financial problems for many years. How do you feel when you

read these letters? It is heartbreaking. Sometimes I get to

pop down in it and have to put them all to one side. I cannot

concentrate on what I'm doing, they are all real life stories. This is

Jessica Looke - a victim of the trickery facilitated by Emery in

Romsey. She's since passed away, but her daughter Marilyn runs a

campaign to put an end to mail order scams. Together we looked at

just a handful of letters Marilyn has spoken to thousands of victims

who, like her mother, truly believed they'd been singled out to

win a cash prize. I hope you can read my letter. I do not see any

one, because I am at the end of the lane. I look forward to getting a

cheque from you, I will buy a little top and pay for some

treatment to help a walk. I just keep my fingers crossed. Years

since Selly. Isn't that awful? That is awful, isn't it? How can they do

it? Marilyn has spoken to thousands of people who thought they were

singled out to receive a cash prize. In their minds, there is still a

chance that it will come. You have to keep going along with it, and

the carrots they use, like the phone calls and the more letters,

they are more exciting, suddenly you're special and important. Up

they do not understand mass- marketing fraud. Joan Watkins was

one of those who wrote chasing her prize money. This time to mail

order company Phyderma via, you guessed it, Emery in Hampshire.

Every time I got one, I replied and I got an order under put a sticker

on the order form. You have to put it on the order form. I have done

exactly what they said. And I have nothing back for myself. My son

said to me, mum, you have spent too much. It is not worth it. He has

said all along he thought it was a scam. But higher didn't believe it.

Now for a surprise, we've got the letter she wrote. Where did you get

this? I was definitely not ordering any more. That has finished me,

seeing you have got hold of the letter. That should have gone to

Phyderma. That has made me angry, that really has. There is no point

in me pitting the anger on paper, because they will not get it. I

sent it to them and that is what they do with it. It is not on.

to go after the bad guys - because remember While their customers may

be left all at sea, the Gebbetts You might know David if you're a

member of the this Sailing Club here. He lives within spitting

distance of this medina. That is when he is not swanning around New

Zealand for six months of the year. His son Nick Nick name lives in

Norfolk. His latest Tweet is something about taking up a cat to

that bet. Nothing about running a company involved in a mass

marketing scam. While their customers may be left all at sea,

the Gebbetts appear to be riding high on a wave of success. Here's

Dad David who often pops in for a chat at the company. And here's his

son Nick who appears to be in charge. He keeps a much lower

profile - not the best photo. many occasions, you find that could

be the scenario, that company in the middle which provides a

legitimate British service, have the guilty knowledge behind it that

they're actually operating at the front end or the middle of a fraud.

It has been going on for many years. When I left, probably about seven

years ago, and it has been going on since then. Everybody who works

there knows what's going on. The amount of times Trading Standards

have come round because other people have complained, they must

know. I would urge, if there is any proof available, to make that

available to the national fraud intelligence bugle and put that

together with the rest of the pieces of an horrific crime that

has taken people's life savings, and that can be the key that opens

our goal were to be able to effectively Detect and take law-

enforcement action against the people who have committed these

truly horrible crimes. While they throw away most letters they

receive, Nick Gebett did read the one we sent him. He replied they'd

only answer our questions with a statement if we used it in full and

unedited. Obviously we want to hear their side of the story, but we

can't go giving promises like that to anyone. But I still needed to

know why they thought it was ok to do the dirty work for a French

scammer. And what were the chances of that? I managed to bump into

David Gebbett at his waterside home. Mr Eyre in aid? Can I ask why

you're company continues to cash of the checks of vulnerable people?

cannot answer questions. You are staff have been instructed to shred

their letters. That is not very good customer service. I cannot

comment on that. I am sorry. What do you say to these people, who

have been taken for a right by these people when your company

could stop it happening? If we didn't, some other company would to

it. That does not make it right. Do you have nothing to say to these

people? Surely you owe them something, Mr Gebbett? If they

didn't do it, someone else would. Does that make it right? I have

been so poorly lately and I have not been able to get out. I am

writing to accept my prize. National Fraud intelligence bureau

has asked to see our evidence. They say they're keen to take action

against any companies that operate to deceive members of the public.

We are closing in on you, if you're in the UK or operating outside the

country. We will do what we can for our community to stop them being

victims of your creed and your criminality. I asked my number was

the winning number, I am hoping you mean to pay me. At this moment in

time, I am living on just that, hold. I think our work here is done.

I think we have truly given them a voice. Don't forget, the advice

from action fraud is, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I promise we do read every single e-mail. Week 2 not throw them away.

See you next week. Next Monday, we are on the trail of the South's

rarest plants. Am I facing the right direction? Is there any way

today I would be allowed in to see them? The would have to knock you