Credit card gang is left to run riot

Dealers are furious that police have failed to give catching a long-term fraud gang a higher priority

The police have come under fire from dealers for failing to take steps to stem the activities of a credit card fraud gang that has been operating for a year.

Last week, Basildon dealer Aimworld Computing was approached by the same people who had targeted Banbury Computers only a week earlier.

Aimworld MD Rob Smillie said he had been contacted by someone calling himself Michael Demsey from DSB Computers, but the police had said they could do little to help.

Despite the potential for a controlled drop or a police raid following the order DSB Computers tried to place with Aimworld, nothing was done and the mysterious Mr Demsey remains at large.

?It?s very frustrating when we could have done something to put a stop to these people, but Basildon CID said it couldn?t act on its own and would need backup from the Met,? said Smillie.

A detective from the Metropolitan Police, who asked to remain nameless, said that dealers could do more to help themselves.

?If it?s a choice between attending a house break-in or chasing round after fraudsters that are ripping off greedy sales people, it?s obvious which one we?ll go for. It?s only the careless dealers that fall for this sort of sting.?

Following last week?s front page report in PC Dealer (26 February), PC Andy Clark from Southwark Police was overrun by calls from all over the UK.

?The response has been such that we now have a lot more information,? he said. ?We can?t follow up on everything from Southwark and we would now ask that people contact their local police.?

The article also said five men had been arrested after a police raid conducted with the help of Banbury Computers. But on Monday, the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to pursue the matter.