Mike Brewer on being SCAMMED – how Wheeler Dealer was conned out of £10k

Wheeler Dealer star and boss of the @OneAutomotiveUK used car dealership, Mike Brewer @mikebrewer5372 talks to James Baggott about how his dealership was conned out of £10k in a serious credit card fraud. In this video interview he explains what happened and how other dealers need to protect themselves from similar cons.

[jonboy]

My son had his merc stolen by a gypsy gang and the tracker pinpointed the vehicle but the police were too scared to get it back we tracked it all the way to Lithuania! When my son told the police he and his mates would do it the police warned him that they would be arrested for a breach of the peace. All sorted through insurance but these criminals have carte blanche to steal without fear.

[Maasterstead]

Barclays called me a liar and a thief when 400.00 was stolen from my account and refused to investigate. I had to go through the ombudsman to retrieve my funds. Police were only interested in giving me a crime number. Horrible experience.

[PAULDEANO]

I am a Barclays Bank customer and they way they treat me is is disgusting, I am moving to another bank. I would refuse to do business with Barclays Bank Customers to avoid any problems.

[keithtt]

I sold my BMW 520d to Mike Brewer Motors when I retired. The price they offered was significantly better than WBAC and unlike another (local) buyer there was no nit-picking to go back on the price originally offered. Money was in my bank acvount before I got home. I'm in Somerset so was a long drive and return train journey, however was worth it as the staff were lovely, even gave me a lift to the station. So sorry to hear this story, I was so impressed with Mike Brewer and feel so sorry to hear about both this and the Fiesta story.

[blowduke]

Pity police weren’t looking for criminals instead of looking on Facebook for comments

[mikevaughan]

It's aiding and abetting fraud by the BANK !!
It's the Banks customer who is in charge of releasing the money !!!!
So it's actually the Bank that has been defrauded NOT the dealer .
The dealer did the transaction by being given the information and doing the checks of which the transaction went ahead to give the impression that it was LEGAL
NOW if a bank was duped by the customer into releasing the money it is THE BANK that has been defrauded by it's client .
The bank by claiming the money from the Dealer is themselves making a fraudulent claim as it's clearly NOT the fault of the Dealer, because they did everything possible for security .
It is NEGLIGENCE by the bank in knowing there was a fraud if which their department should have involved the Police .
Negligence is a crime in its own right, and aiding and abetting a crime as they claimed the money !!
It is the BANK who Scammed the Dealer by claiming the money as the money collected from the dealer is the proceeds of crime which was in force.
Banks are protected against theft by insurance which a portion is taken out of the interest and charges they charge, so another reason why it is the Bank who have defrauded the dealer !! Who is to know whether the bank actually claimed on the insurance and getting the money twice!! I would call in the police to investigate the bank !!

* Its also negligence by the bank in not stopping the card !!

I would definitely sue the BANK no doubt about that !!!

[anthonygreenwood]

Luckily for Mike he has a platform to share to this issue, my business was scammed out of over £5000 worth of welding equipment (Parweld Machines), my company is small and it was a big blow, a loss to the business.
This issue is becoming more common.
I’ll never take a card payment over the phone again.

[stananders]

Mike is a good man. He works hard and employs people. Scummy crooks put their jobs at risk.

[andypalin]

Surely there's a claim against Barclays. Their security measures are a joke!

[jasminderbharij]

My sympathies with Mike and all the rest of the people scammed, I know exactly how it feels..am a boutique car dealer and run a small, specialised workshop as well here in Kenya.
However, mu case is the reverse as I paid a dealer in the UK, in Wembley, £15k in 2019 and no car delivered!!!
He's STILL sending a bunch of cars to Kenya every month, really pisses me off.
He had been my regular supplier, but all previously supplied cars were ex-stock from his showroom except for this one that he was supposed to purchase on our behalf and export.
Am willing to name and shame, or if you're able to advice in any way that would be great.
Thanks!

[drewsmotorco]

We had a DEBIT card payment reversed by the customers bank because the customer claimed the goods were faulty. They ended up with the car and the money. This is known as a debit back. This was a customer present transaction. We only take a transfer now and don’t do distance selling at all. If the customer wants the car they can come and collect it.

[timothyclarke]

You have a primary right of interest. If you can find the current location of the vehicle, you can just turn up with a recovery vehicle and snatch it back. It may be pertinent to contact the Police beforehand and make a report of the person being responsible for handling stolen goods. If the Police refuse to take any criminal action. It would then be a matter to sort through the Civil Court. You would have a good claim to the vehicle. If the Police blocked you from removing the vehicle, the keeper should be told quite clearly, that if they sell or dispose of the vehicle, they would be guilty of disposing (handling) stolen goods. The easiest was to settle, would be for the current keeper to buy the vehicle from you at an agreed price. This may be more than the veicle is worth, but at least it can be sold. You would have still made a loss but this would be less than the original scam price. Dont be fobbed off by the Police not wanting to do anything. The threats of making a formal complaint against lack of Police action, will get you a long way.

[mikedeakin]

Happens here in Oz, I recently bought a second-hand car and paid the seller by bank transfer within minutes of making the transfer I had a phone call from my bank's security department (National Australia) asking if the transaction was legit. They had blocked the account and advised me it would be 24 hours before I could make the transfer. You are right Mike something needs to change with Barclay's security.

[mkaf]

I bought a car from a garage £25k on debit card - told the bank before I was going to do this - payment aprooved - took the car - two days later the bank randomly took the money back -- I just told them to pay it back to the garage. but the garage must have been very worried and good job I'm not dodgy

[randlcars]

My mate had this happen to him 10 years ago with Lloyds he sold 3 cars to the same guy said he was a trader he reported cars stolen but the old bill were useless as normal

[blackcataps]

What do the UK police do anymore where theft is concerned? My wife was a victim of attempted fraud but thankfully we noticed and managed to get it stopped before they finalised the transaction. The police were awful despite lots of research we had carried out they frankly made us feel like we were wasting their time by helping them and providing them with assistance. Never felt so demoralised with UK police as I do today.

[mentalmechanic]

This happened to my father in law. Not so much the car purchase, but ID stolen. So your question is reference one time passcodes, banks calling customers, text verification etc. These can all be carried out and usually are, but what if the scammer has just stolen your phone number and PAC’d it to another network? Exactly what happened to my father in law. Every time one time passcode was sent or a call was made it was the scammer they called. This is much more than just a bank asking for a passcode or calling you, they are stealing your phone number first and because it’s such an industry standard thing that when your try to explain that you are the true person your own network provider or bank doesn’t believe you!! Only the person that has stolen your phone number!! Crazy times and this is the cause in many of these cases I think you’ll find.

[dulimited]

How on earth can a bank reverse a debit charge once they authorise it and transfer the funds to the sellers account ? When does the transaction end ? Surely the BANK has to take the loss for authorising and transferring the funds without checking with the account holder

[drumcdoo]

Banked with Barclays for many years before retiring.
One day had a call from a member of staff who worked there alerting to the fact we were paying out 30k.
Name and address along with passwords and account numbers etc were all correct. We knew nothing of this proposed fraudulent attempt remove funds.
It appeared to be an inside job.
Barclays it seems obviously have a serious problem.
Great story and shows up a bank with serious issues who are passing the buck and will not honour their customers.
Think it may be a good time to change accounts to a bank which has its act together and honours tranactions.

[andrewseaton]

Surely the car can be reported as stolen to the police . They can trace it via DVLA to an address .