The Chief

Who did you speak to? ask to speak to a senior officer/sergent etc.? go down to the local nick in person and kick up a stink (not too much otherwise you'll be up on a section five lol) seriously if you've been diddled out of hundreds of pounds then this is a disgrace. if they fob you off tell them that you'll be writing to the local press with regards to the police inaction.

Its f**king bull**** this you've been fraudulently ripped off and they cant be arsed doing anything.

mfa330

One small problem is that I am in Canada, so going down to the station is not really an option

The Chief

Sorry mate i should have taken more notice of what you posted.

Do you know where the guy lives? if so get back onto the local nick and be as vocal as you want as they cannot nick you being in Canada speak to the most senior officer that you can, if no joy tell him you want to make an official complaint and you will be writing to the local paper and local MP and councillors and make sure you do this.

if no joy then do as threatened and the MP might (if he's not too busy juggling his expenses) get on their case.

The Chief

Come on S'netters lets help this guy out as much as possible, i want to go to Canada one day and dont want to p1ss them off and have a big tree fall on my car when i am drivind down the road.

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

Dont think there is much more help can be offered to be honest - the best way to get to the individual is through due process. I have done this with one scammer from this site, the police had him in for interview, he persuaded them he was a disorganised businessman, but was not intentionally ripping anyone off (he was organised enough to cash my cheque and that of about 8 others). I had a cheque returned in the post without any form of apology. The rest of that particular group were not as fortunate though, although the complaint was registered by me was on behalf of all of them, and the promise from the scammer to police was that everyone would be reimbursed. The sums involved were around £25 per person for DIY intercooler water spray kits, total value around £200 given the number of persons deceived.

The address provided was for the Small Heath area of Birmingham. Anyone from that area want to knock on a door???

mfa330

That story actually gives me hope! How did you manage to convince the police that it was worth pursuing?

al4x1

after reading through are you looking for a Haroon Malik? If yes and from a B28 postcode right on the edge of solihull there is one registered with companies house.

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

It was a bit tricky first of all - they told me that as I lived in Northern Ireland the Police Service of Northern Ireland would have to take details of the deception. I spoke to some guys in my local force who told me that the deception had taken place in the UK, the guys local force would have to pursue it but PSNI would be happy to make a record of the incident.

I did some digging around with my bank who were helpful enough to tell me where the cheque had been cashed. I then contacted the fraudsters bank fraud department, and advised them that his account was being used to encash cheques which had been obtained by deception. I they were able to view the details of his account, but would not give me any additional details, but they would confirm the address where I had sent the cheque to was the address to which the account was registered.

The address I sent the cheque to was in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, so I contacted Herts Constabulary. I passed all the details by telephone, and explained I would be writing to an inspector at the station and asked for a name. I asked all the guys who had been defrauded to either send their contact details to me, or contact the police at Herts using the crime reference number that had been issued. I followed this up in writing, and made a few phone calls just to keep the pressure on.

The police called me to tell me they had brought they guy in for a chat, and he brought a box of documentation with him. They told me he felt quite ashamed and embarrassed that he had been called in for interview. He convinced the police that he was a bit disorganised and had taken more orders for parts than he was able to ship, and his lack of organisation had caused him to loose details for people etc etc.

Bottom line in my view is that he was always organised enough to cash the cheques, and assuming the other guys followed my advice they should have been reimbursed in the same way. Some follow up on my part showed that I was the only one who was refunded anything in this instance.

It looks like your circumstances may be a little bit different, this guy seems to be a serial scammer. Harry007 claims to have reported this alleged id theft to his local station, but has not responded to a call on the thread to give details of the force, station and crime ref number.

These types shake the confidence of all when it comes to buying and selling on the web. You need to be a bit resourceful, persistent and do a lot of the leg work yourself, it will take up some of your time, but it depends how valuable the loss is to yourself and if you are wanting to send out the right message to those who try to exploit forums like this or MLR.

mfa330

Good story tarmac, it makes me feel good to know that at least some of these guys are held accountable.

UPDATE: I have confirmed the identity and details of the bank account information which I have. I have contacted the person and let them know the funds are to be returned immediately. They currently have a choice to make. They have given me a *plausible* story and as such I am giving them benefit of the doubt IF the funds are immediately returned.

I suspect that person will be reading this post and I STRONGLY suggest they return the funds. If the funds are not immediately returned, plausible story or not, full details will be given to the forum community (I will make a separate website so this forum is not liable for anything that may happen)

BTW I tried that number I was given (by tarmac I think?) it has so far been busy, I am not sure if it is connected with the account holder or not, given the new information I have it may not matter.

mfa330

Also Harry007 has just given me the crime report number that was filed. I will not give the full number here as it could potentially be used for bad things. I have not actually confirmed the number yet, but as above I may not need to. If anyone wants to confirm it for their own suspicions please PM Harry007 directly.

billyray911

iTrader: (4)

Post the crime number and area in which it was initiated,up.I'm sure that someone on here can look it up and let us know if it is relevant.No info would be posted on here to breach DPA
At least then,the benefit could be given to Malik...or not

mfa330

I agree that it is in Harry007's best interests to post the report number for everyone to see, but I will let him do that.

If he wants to make things worse for himself by not posting it, that is his problem!

harry007

Reported Monday first thing to Solihull Police Station Via phone crime number is: 1788150609 the police station is closed down for refurbishment, dont believe call them yourselfs!

My accounts are both frozen, cards cancelled, out of pocket and being funded by friends and family to actually live!

I have nothing to hide. Anyone giving my details out will also be reported to the police. Whats looking like a serious case of identity theft, I am not liable for any monies etc...I havent done anything at all!!

I will not be further posting on here. This is hyped up to such a limit its crazy. I will repeat this over and over, I have not done anything!

I must say, whichever person has done this, has done well to the extent which they got to, and landed me in the ****.

Haroon.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Subscribed

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

^ pmsl

mfa330

Thank you Harry007 for that post, I think that goes a long way to straightening the situation out.

Harry007 has continued to help me unravel all of this, I'm hoping for his sake that the authorities will find a smoking gun that will prove his absolute innocence, otherwise it will just have to be taken on faith (proving innocence is next to impossible in this case). I'm starting to feel like there is a good chance I will be getting my money back, but it seems like the one behind all of this will go unpunished.

Thank you all for you help so far, you have been very kind. I will keep this thread updated as the chips fall (hopefully with a big victory dance at the end).

Will

Dedrater

I am having this checked right now, it does not matter if that particular station is closed, why you have said it is quite strange.

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

It is on the website, the station is closed for refurbishment, but there is a portacabin at the station that is dealing with enquiries

It's amazing how easy it is to search the web

http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/n...asp?id=2#title

mfa330

ah the internets

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

Critically, what is the relevance of saying the station is closed when he used the phone

mfa330

I think he was just saying that to provide evidence that he has had contact with them.

The number is evidence enough, as long as it is legit (I doubt he would post it if it wasn't, it's pretty clear at this point people on this forum are willing to check the facts!!).

I think the reason he is being held to the fire by everyone is that he is just not very good at posting (or deciding what to post). It always seems to sound so suspicious!

t7srt

iTrader: (2)

What goes around comes around!!!!!!





Whether Harry is guilty or not, his past hasnt done him any favours.

skid11

iTrader: (1)

That isnt a crime number given by Solihull Police station..unless its the crime capital of the world !!!

harry007

That is the crime number given by the woman over the phone

harry007

Right Im frustrated to the limit and taken an extra our off work to sort this. The number given is not a crime number but a 'log' number. Hope that clarifies everything. I have just spoken to the police over the phone again and they will not give me a crime number, as its the bank that does the chasing up etc. She did mention two different names etc 'economic' or 'ergonomic' or ecu etc?? Anyone who is a police officer will know what it means.

If you dont believe the above then phone up and quote that number and prentent to be me if needed!

All I can expect now is a phone call from the fraud department via bank, and they will take it from there.

scoobyboi09

crime numbers start with the date it was reported, if i remember correctly!!!

Jamz3k

to be fair, the crimenumber i got for my car being damaged is very much similar to the one Harry has given, it was the number of the crime as logged for the day, and then the date in which the report was entered.

ScoobyWon't

Solihull? Looks dodgy to me.

Crime numbers are made in a certain format of: force code/ incremental number / year.

So for myself in Notts, when I create a crime number I create 31/xxxxxx/09

West Midlands use the force code 20, so I'd have expected a crime number 20/xxxxxx/09 and a crime reference number looking like 17/xxxxxx/09 to be created by Cleveland police.



Sometimes it helps to have a cop on here...