"Fraud Squad" - ITV
Discussion
I've been watching Fraud Squad on ITV Player, and I have to say it's one of the most engrossing fly-on-the-wall documentaries I've ever watched.
It follows detectives in their attempts to track down a group of share fraudsters who are selling hundreds of thousands of pounds of worthless shares to unsuspecting victims, using a "boiler room" setup from Spain.
It's amazingly open, showing all the police meetings, strategy discussions as well as arrests and evidence. I'm currently midway through episode 2, and I'm sure episode 1 will still be available on ITV Player.
If you've any interest in how the police work to bring these guys to justice, I can't recommend it enough. If you've already watched it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it too!
It follows detectives in their attempts to track down a group of share fraudsters who are selling hundreds of thousands of pounds of worthless shares to unsuspecting victims, using a "boiler room" setup from Spain.
It's amazingly open, showing all the police meetings, strategy discussions as well as arrests and evidence. I'm currently midway through episode 2, and I'm sure episode 1 will still be available on ITV Player.
If you've any interest in how the police work to bring these guys to justice, I can't recommend it enough. If you've already watched it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it too!
Mojooo said:
Once again the message it quite clear - crime does indeed pay in the long run.
If I remember right, the ringleader who was arrested in Sweden only got 5 years - to be out in half that?Given that the police only recovered 1M out of 20M, a couple of years in jail for 19M isn't looking too bad for the ringleader. Simplistic view, I know, but still.
One of the sadder moments was when the female financial investigator was interviewing the old man who'd bought tens of thousands of fake shares. The old guy took the phonecall, and you could hear the high pressure salesman on the other end. The old guy said to the female investigator that it wasn't related to her case, and was clearly unaware he was being scammed again.
- *****SPOILERS******
They recovered 1m - Proved 11m of losses but rekcon it could be upto 20m
My guess is he was smart enough to stash a few million somewhere.
Who wouldnt do 3 relativley easy years in a british prison to live the rest of their life in luxury?
Its a frickin joke - he should have gotten 10 years minimum.
Very frustrating for the Police as well I bet.
Mojooo said:
*******SPOILERS******
Ringleader will be out in maybe 3 years.
They recovered 1m - Proved 11m of losses but rekcon it could be upto 20m
My guess is he was smart enough to stash a few million somewhere.
Who wouldnt do 3 relativley easy years in a british prison to live the rest of their life in luxury?
Its a frickin joke - he should have gotten 10 years minimum.
Very frustrating for the Police as well I bet.
Yeah and not smart enough to not leave lots of evidence everywhere...Ringleader will be out in maybe 3 years.
They recovered 1m - Proved 11m of losses but rekcon it could be upto 20m
My guess is he was smart enough to stash a few million somewhere.
Who wouldnt do 3 relativley easy years in a british prison to live the rest of their life in luxury?
Its a frickin joke - he should have gotten 10 years minimum.
Very frustrating for the Police as well I bet.
One woman lost HUNDREDS of thousands...I am guessing she did not earn it in the first place.
Edited by Strachan on Monday 5th September 07:18
dudleybloke said:
lesson is dont buy shares off random callers.
We all think we'd never fall for that sort of thing, and the humiliation is a big thing for these victims. They'll keep it from their family and loved ones, making it harder to track down the perpitrators.We might not fall for that sort of thing now, but what about when we're elderly, a little senile and out of touch?
It was a really sad, as well as fascinating program, I thought.
I watched both parts and have to say i felt heart sorry for some of the elderly victims. However what i am struggling to understand is this, even if the shares are legitimate, you could still stand to lose it all potentially, so why oh why did some invest every penny and leave themselves with nothing to live off?
RJDM3 said:
I watched both parts and have to say i felt heart sorry for some of the elderly victims. However what i am struggling to understand is this, even if the shares are legitimate, you could still stand to lose it all potentially, so why oh why did some invest every penny and leave themselves with nothing to live off?
The answer to this is quite simple - greed. I can sympathise with the victims for being scammed, but at 90 years of age why would you invest £142k in shares? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A cliche I know, but it's true. The scammers are greedy, but they are feeding off the greed of the victims who see a fast easy buck. In my opinion of course!!bmw535i said:
The answer to this is quite simple - greed. I can sympathise with the victims for being scammed, but at 90 years of age why would you invest £142k in shares? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A cliche I know, but it's true. The scammers are greedy, but they are feeding off the greed of the victims who see a fast easy buck. In my opinion of course!!
Some people are greedy, some people are stupid and some people are extremley vulnerable and are broken down by the pressure these people put on.You have to bear in mind some of these oldies are socially isolated and speaking on the phone is often one of the very few contacts they have with the outside world - if you add on that some are mentally unwell then it is very easy to see how they get conned.
So yes, some may be greedy idiots but a significant proportion are not.
Mojooo said:
Some people are greedy, some people are stupid and some people are extremley vulnerable and are broken down by the pressure these people put on.
Exactly.I think it's easy to call these victims stupid/greedy, etc. Sure, that's the case a lot of the time, but by no means all of them are. Watching that old guy take a phone call from the boiler room was pretty heartbreaking.
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