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Fraudsters con Robert White of £45000 Nikon gear


dkCambridgeshire

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I doubt if they'll ever get the thieves. We (I work for a largish camera supplier in Canada) were hit a few years ago by something similar. An out of country learning institution that ordered a substantial amount of Nikon equipment.

Legitimate looking purchase order. Institution had a web presence. All looked good. Because we had never dealt with them we required a transfer of funds to our bank from theirs. Our bank confirmed receipt of the transfer so we shipped the goods.

Only to have our bank call us a week later and tell us the transfer was bogus (turns out the funds had been withdrawn from another branch of the theives bank at exactly the same time they transfered the funds at their branch).

Well damned if their isn't fine print in the Canadian banking act that protects the bank from such occurences. Our bank was real 'nice'...because we are a multi million dollar client they agreed to eat 1/2 the loss. As in this story the attitude of the police was 'the cameras left the country so we have no jurisdiction'.

Live and learn

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[...] This would have been an ideal opportunity to track the goods to their destination in London but the police were not interested in following that line [...]

 

This is unbelievable. I will never find this behavior tolerable.

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This is unbelievable. I will never find this behavior tolerable.

 

I suspect some of the staff of Robert White have been watching too many episodes of The Sweeney. Dorset Police are one of the smallest forces in the UK (with most of the coppers based in nearby Bournemouth chasing drug dealers and other social undesirables). I doubt whether they have the manpower to stage a sting operation (at short notice) or follow a taxi to London for £45,000 worth of gear that the police, rightly or wrongly, would probably assume is insured. It's a pity - and I sympathise with Robert White (they are a very good dealer) - but whining so much about the old bill's inaction isn't going to make the staff of Robert White look any less gullible and naive.

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I suspect some of the staff of Robert White have been watching too many episodes of The Sweeney. Dorset Police are one of the smallest forces in the UK (with most of the coppers based in nearby Bournemouth chasing drug dealers and other social undesirables). I doubt whether they have the manpower to stage a sting operation (at short notice) or follow a taxi to London for £45,000 worth of gear that the police, rightly or wrongly, would probably assume is insured. It's a pity - and I sympathise with Robert White (they are a very good dealer) - but whining so much about the old bill's inaction isn't going to make the staff of Robert White look any less gullible and naive.

 

But Robert White pays business rates/council taxes/local taxes call them whatever - for adequate POLICING ...

 

'Oh we are not a PROPER police force ... we only have a bobby on a bicycle and she cant cycle that fast ... '

 

Perhaps the thieves knew this ...

 

Cheers

 

dunk

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In fact, I was dealing some purchase with Robert White, and they explained me the thieves were clever enough to divert a real BBC phone number to a mobile phone number.

When RW checked this out, apparently, it was too late. Obviously, the fraudsters were very well informed, because they knew the BBC was a regular client of RW.

Awful, because it forces you to be über-paranoiac.

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Because we had never dealt with them we required a transfer of funds to our bank from theirs. Our bank confirmed receipt of the transfer so we shipped the goods.

 

Live and learn

 

About money transfer, I never send anything before a week or more, after clearance with my bank.

I also believed that once the money is on your account, it was alright. It's not, and my bank representative warned me especially against any electronic payment (be it through CC, Paypal, anything).

You're not cleared until at least a week (with old obsolete checks systems, it could be a month…) in the UE, and it's even much more with any other country outside the UE.

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Hopefully they have insurance against such things.

 

Depends on the wording of the insurance policy especially the exclusion clauses therein. Cover for theft by fraud may require specific wording and £limits.

 

Cheers

 

dunk

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