Alastair Campbell investigates £1m scam

After digging further, Alastair discovered that the Parcel Express UK scam is part of a much larger, more sinister, nationwide fraud operation that could be worth up to £1 million.

"In my days at Downing Street I got used to spotting traps and avoiding problems. But on this occasion, I was nearly taken in by a simple card which dropped through my letter box," he says.

As part of Alastair's investigation for Watchdog he returned to the site to meet Dominic Perri, the manager of the rental offices. Dominic told him Parcel Express UK had never operated on the site and that earlier this year there had been 50-60 people in the space of two months calling at the offices looking for them.

Watchdog's discovered hundreds of people from London and the South East of England who have given their bank details to Parcel Express UK after receiving a card through their door. Cards have also been received featuring the company name Network Link Couriers. Some of the card recipients have had thousands of pounds taken from their credit cards.

£2,400 taken

Keith Walker was one of them. "There was a withdrawal from my account of £2,415," he says.

Because it was taken fraudulently, Keith's bank has now refunded his money. He found out that the money taken from his account had been paid to a Scottish newspaper: The Daily Record.

Alastair couldn't work out why Keith's money had been paid to a newspaper until he met Bethan Featherby from Westminster Trading Standards who explained more about the second part of the scam.

Using the credit card details they've collected from people like Keith Walker, the people behind Parcel Express UK buy adverts in local and national papers. The adverts look like they are from mail order companies selling gadgets and electrical goods. But these companies don't exist either and customers never receive their goods. The adverts have run in up to 60 papers across the UK.

Scam funding a scam

"These large, glossy advertisements were supposedly for mail order goods. Mobile phones, laptops, cameras, you name it. Everybody who ordered the goods, though, unfortunately didn't receive them." Bethan Featherby explained.

Alastair discovered that Parcel Express UK is a small scam, which is the basis for the much bigger scam, taking money through these mail order adverts. The newspapers are under no obligation to check the identities of advertisers.

Fran Flint also thinks the newspapers should have done more checks. After seeing one of the adverts in her local newspaper she handed over £45 for a vacuum cleaner - and received nothing.

"I feel really angry with the newspaper, really angry with the newspaper. I feel that they've let the readers down," she said. "You would assume that they'd have done the checks that were necessary."

Up to £1m worth of fraud

City of London Police's DCI Paul Barnard has been investigating this scam for months. "We estimate at the moment, from those victims who've come forward and the crime we know about, we're looking at between half a million to a million pounds worth of fraud," he said.

"There is an element of sophistication in where they've tried to hide their tracks. And I'm confident that we will be able to uncover that, and make arrests."

The police are still gathering evidence and are keen to hear from more people who've been stung. The Scottish Daily Record says that when the scammers took out their ads with them they managed to satisfy all the relevant checks. The newspaper says that it is happy to work with Trading Standards and the police to catch those behind the scam

The Scottish Daily Record told Watchdog:
We will launch an immediate investigation. If we find that these companies are acting unlawfully then we will genuinely take action against them. We are happy to work with Trading Standards and the police.

The mail order company who advertised in the paper satisfied all the relevant checks. The paper had no way of knowing that the credit card used to pay for the adverts was in fact stolen.

Have you ever been a victim of a credit card scam? Let us know what you think. And remember if you have any new stories for us to investigate you can email us directly.

If you've received a Parcel Express UK or Network Link Courier card or have been a victim of one of the mail order scam, please call Consumer Direct on 08454040506.