Got scammed - estate solicitor not helping

terryw

yorksrabbit wrote: »

Not that far-fetched.

A registered sex offender changed his name to Derek Atkins so as to get off the register. He moved to Portsmouth and hired on as a fishing boat skipper. He had no qualifications and no certificate.

As it gradually dawned on his crew that Atkins was more like Moby !!!!!! than Captain Ahab, a complaint was made to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency which in turn passed it onto the investigative branch of the Marine & Fisheries Agency.

MFA investigators couldn't locate Cap'n Atkins at home or at sea so resorted to sending him an official letter, requiring him to attend an interview. By return they received a letter saying Atkins was dead. By way of proof, a copy of the trade paper Fishing News was included, in which the ol' sea-dog's obituary appeared:

"He was totally dedicated to his career and had little time for officials, MPs or political parties who he believed were mostly a waste of time, money and effort.

"People found him to be a gentleman at sea with a great sense of humour who would always help anyone. He was a quiet family man and will be deeply missed by his family and friends."

Perhaps aggrieved by the contempt for "officials" shown by the dear departed during his lifetime, investigators redoubled their efforts. It soon became clear that it wasn't so much family and friends who were missing Atkins as that Atkins was missing family and friends: none could be located.

A check of recent deaths, inquests and funerals yielded nothing and so the presumption was made -- accurately, as it turned out -- that Atkins had written his own obituary and that Fishing News had been daft enough to print it.

Working together, the MFA and Portsmouth police eventually tracked down their quarry. I am told by a source connected with the enquiry that someone -- possibly a police officer -- congratulated Atkins on rising from the dead but said that if he now intended to walk on water he really would have to have a licence.

Atkins was duly charged with a string of offences.

Last Thursday, February 12th 2009, Atkins was jailed for six years.

Fishing News has issued a statement to the effect that it published the obituary in all good faith.




On which basis, the OP might like to examine recent issues of the B&Q staff news letter for any requiems for much-loved employees who have cleared the final check-out.

And what about Mr Darwin from Seaton Carew who evolved the plot to fake his own death? Or John Stonehouse? Or Reg Perrin?

terryw

yorksrabbit

terryw wrote: »

And what about Mr Darwin from Seaton Carew who evolved the plot to fake his own death? Or John Stonehouse? Or Reg Perrin?

terryw

I reckon the number of Reggie Perrins is set to rise exponentially this year.

That's bad news for victims of their scams but good news for those who like a bargain.

Instead of paying High Street prices, just walk along any beach collecting up various overcoats, pairs of shoes, briefcases and gloves left by those who haven't actually gone but sincerely wish to be forgotten. . .

marktms

Yes, youre right ldcharm and yourself terryw.

lcharm wrote: »

True, MSE forums are riddled with people like them as you'll find out in due course! Don't dignify them with a response as it fuels their thirst for posting on here.

marktms

Yorksrabbit

Thanks for a great post and again thanks to everyone who has shown some moral support and given great advice. The good news is that I have an appt to see the Thames Valley Police in just over a weeks time and hopefully will get some redress.

In the meantime I am getting all the documentation organised. I will post back here in the future with results.

One thing I particularly like yorksrabbit is your idea about contacting the editor of the local newspaper. If nothing else that may smoke out the other hapless souls who are probably feeling the same way I am.

So with that, I will disappear from MSE for a while and be back soon with news.

Once again, thanks all!

yorksrabbit wrote: »

OP:

MSE has a pretty low troll-count. Unfortunately, there's at least one on this thread. They're not posters but posers on a stage in a theatre nobody's visiting, because if they're never individually acknowledged, the spotlight they seek never shines on 'em. So leave 'em in the dark.

Now, to positive steps.

Step 1. You need publicity. You're not going to achieve it via MSE but by news management. If you don't know how to do that, then:

If your investment guru is indeed dead, the local newspaper within whose circulation area he once resided will know about it. If it doesn't, it will wish to. So your first step is to contact the newspaper, ask for an appointment with the News Editor, and arrange a meeting.

If it's a weekly newspaper, make contact on the morning of the day before publication. (If it's published on a Friday, that means telephoning on Thursday morning.) You need to time your interview with the start of the news gathering cycle, so in the above example, ring up on Thursday morning, arrange an interview for Friday.

When asked why you're seeking a meeting, say it's about the mystery disappearance of a wealthy local financier from his mansion.

Do not name names; explain to whoever you speak to on the 'phone that you are not prepared to discuss anything else unless at a meeting.

All you are providing in that first call is a headline, and if you look at that headline again you'll see it's a cliche from start to finish: mansions, missing, financiers. And cliches are all that the Press deals in.

The News Editor may ask if you'll speak to a reporter. Say yes -- but only if the reporter will come to your home or your office.

Make him / her comfortable when the meeting occurs. And then play up the mystery, because if it's big enough -- or can be made to sound big enough -- you can count on any local paper relaying it to the nationals: it's how most provincial journalists subsidise a relatively meagre living, £500 for a national page lead exclusive helps with the mortgage.

Step 2: Say goodbye and thanks to your solicitor where this specific issue is concerned. He can't do any more for you and if, as it seems, he knows the other party's solicitor, then that's all the more reason for you to act independently.

Step 3: Leave the newspaper to get on with its own enquiries. Local journalists aren't Sherlock Holmes but they're not stupid, either. However: do not over-inform: you have to lead the Press, not the other way around.

That means, holding back on information best saved for ongoing story development -- for example, your complaint to The Law Society shouldn't be mentioned at your first Press interview. (Hopefully, you have not already lodged that complaint.)

Step 4: Ignore any good natured advice that you contact BBC TV's Watchdog. Watchdog is a branch of Light Entertainment, showbiz on the cheap, not consumer protection in action. Similarly: don't contact Citizens Advice Bureau at this stage because it's not advice you need but facts. CAB isn't a sniffer dog.

Step 5: Be patient. Get on with your life. Let the local paper dig and delve to whatever extent it can.

Step 6: Don't provide a public forum such as this with details. The information already furnished is enough to suggest the existence of a situation way beyond the scope of conventional MSE advice.

If you adopt the suggested course of action, be aware that it’s your name, and your photograph, which will be used by the newspaper. If you’re averse to personal publicity, then leave well alone, but with the amount of money involved here, you may think publicity is but a small price to pay.

Good luck.

marktms

Up to now I have avoided going to B&Q because soon after he got my dosh he left them, so figured it may not be fruitful. I think I will take a chance. Perhaps one of his colleagues also got duped...thanks rb1

rb1 wrote: »

Your story is horrendous. You cannot blame yourself in any way (all that talk about greed- it's the scamster that's the greedy one and you were a trusting victim) I hope you get some redress from this nightmare (do B and Q know about his antics by the way, enticing customers in this way!)
You definitely need to inform the police as there's a fraud of some sort being committed.
Very best of luck mate- I hope justice wins.

yorksrabbit

marktms wrote: »

Yorksrabbit

Thanks for a great post and again thanks to everyone who has shown some moral support and given great advice. The good news is that I have an appt to see the Thames Valley Police in just over a weeks time and hopefully will get some redress.

In the meantime I am getting all the documentation organised. I will post back here in the future with results.

One thing I particularly like yorksrabbit is your idea about contacting the editor of the local newspaper. If nothing else that may smoke out the other hapless souls who are probably feeling the same way I am.

So with that, I will disappear from MSE for a while and be back soon with news.

Once again, thanks all!

Hi Mark:

In the media network, local newspapers (and local news agencies) are the feeders for national Press and television. Because they're local they're too often overlooked. And because newspaper readers have little notion of the salary difference between a national print or TV journalist and a local hack, they're similarly unaware of the incentive every local operator has to "sell" a story to the nationals.

Thus, the widespread assumption that if a consumer wishes to achieve national publicity, he / she must think national: a massive mistake, because national media doesn't deal with the ordinary punter, preferring -- as a general rule --to receive news that's already been checked out. And £500 for an exclusive to a local reporter or agency is a damn sight cheaper than the time and cost incurred of staffing from London anyway.

I won't add to my earlier comment about BBC TV's Watchdog as since that posting, the programme has run into yet further difficulties.

Best, instead, to emphasise that if you wish to bring this issue to the nationwide attention of others as yet unknown but who are victims like yourself, then you must begin with that local newspaper.

If you need further help then send me a private message via this forum. Incidentally, this posting ID is not that of Max Clifford, nice guy that he most certainly is.

As noted before: good luck.

peachyprice

marktms wrote: »

Yorksrabbit

Thanks for a great post and again thanks to everyone who has shown some moral support and given great advice. The good news is that I have an appt to see the Thames Valley Police in just over a weeks time and hopefully will get some redress.

In the meantime I am getting all the documentation organised. I will post back here in the future with results.

One thing I particularly like yorksrabbit is your idea about contacting the editor of the local newspaper. If nothing else that may smoke out the other hapless souls who are probably feeling the same way I am.

So with that, I will disappear from MSE for a while and be back soon with news.

Once again, thanks all!

Good luck Mark, do come back and tell us how you get on.

yorksrabbit

Any news, Mark?

This was one of the most intriguing threads ever to grace MSE so I just wondered if, after two months, you'd managed to make any progress?