By Matthew Cox
08:53 Jun 30, 2024, updated 09:06 Jun 30, 2024
A ‘gold dealer’ who was caught on CCTV tricking a pawn shop into buying fake gold was also seen months earlier using a similar scam at another jeweler.
Footage has emerged of the smartly dressed suspect targeting Ashley Adams Jewellers in Hailsham, East Sussex, on April 11, when he swapped a bag containing 18-carat gold pendants for one containing “two lumps of copper” worth £1,100.
Two months later he was filmed targeting Paul Wood, 58, in his shop 230 miles away in Stoke-on-Trent, swapping a bag of real gold for fake gold and making off with £1,765.
On both occasions his light hand was captured on CCTV.
In blink-and-you-miss-it footage from April, he can be seen holding his phone before switching bags while rotating his phone between his left and right hands.
The suspect left the jewelery shop in Hailsham before the owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, realized she had been scammed when she arrived at the office and opened her bag.
She said, “This man came in and offered to sell me some pharaoh head pendants.
‘I looked at them and confirmed they were 18ct after doing a machine and acid test and agreed to pay him £1,100.
‘It was a similar technique, but he used a kind of mesh bag, he took it in his right hand and gave it back to me with his left hand, and I ended up with two lumps of copper.
‘When I walked into the office, I noticed it almost immediately: the mesh bag was tied very tightly, too tight.
‘I called 999 in case there were officers in the area but nothing ever came of it.
‘The next day I got an email from Safergems, a jewellery crime initiative, saying he had struck elsewhere.
‘If I had received that email the day before, the outcome might have been different.
“But I hate looking back at the footage because it’s so clear what’s happening and how he’s doing it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
A spokesperson for Sussex Police said in an appeal at the time: ‘Can you help us identify this person?
‘We would like to speak to them in relation to a fraudulent transaction at a jeweller in Hailsham on April 11.
‘Report it online or call 101 if you can help, quoting crime reference 47240067964.’
Businessman Paul told this week how the scammer managed to trick him into taking a bag of fake gold for more than £1,700 on June 20.
The man came to the pawn shop in Stoke with a female accomplice to sell 9-carat gold. Paul examined it and confirmed it was genuine.
After managing to swap bags, the pair fled the scene with the money from Church Street Gold Pottery and Furniture.
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Paul, from Stoke-on-Trent, told MailOnline: ‘I just felt a bit stupid about the whole thing when I looked at the camera.’
Explaining the incident, he said: ‘It was last Thursday and this man and woman came in saying they wanted to sell some gold. I think they were Eastern European and well dressed and well presented and they seemed sincere enough.
‘They handed over this gold, which I weighed and checked as I normally would, and we agreed a price of £1,765 after confirming it was 9 carat gold.
‘He had the gold in this blue velvet bag and he kept trying to put it back in while I was trying to weigh it and I had to keep telling him, ‘I don’t want your bag.’
‘And this went on as he put the gold back in the bag and he just wanted to fool me.
‘They said they had more gold, but I looked at that too and thought it didn’t look good, so I said I wouldn’t buy it.
‘Then somehow they exchanged the bag of real gold for the bag with the tat, which he had tied very tightly.
‘I knew something was wrong when he threw the bag behind the counter, but as he walked toward the front door, they wanted to look at something else in the window.
‘They were talking and kept me talking.
‘In the back of my mind I think they would have made a runner long ago if they weren’t real, but I still have to go back and check that bag again.
‘But then they took off very suddenly. I immediately ran back to the bag and had to cut it open with a knife because he had tied it so tightly.
‘All this fake gold was pouring out of the bag, so I walked out of the store with it and down the street – but they were long gone.
‘Looking back, I felt quite stupid because I’m normally so careful. But they were in the store for about 20 minutes and I never lost sight of him.
‘I looked at him and somehow he managed to throw dirt in my eyes, I don’t know how he did that. It was quite a professional job.”
Paul, who has owned the store for 18 years, was then told by police that it would be six weeks before an officer could come out or personally visit a station.
He criticised the response of Staffordshire Police and believes the daring thieves could strike again elsewhere because of their lack of action.
Police have confirmed they are now hunting for the suspects and have appealed for any witnesses to get in touch.
He added: ‘I called 999 straight away but they told me to call 101 which took an hour to get through.
‘I was then told that I had to wait six weeks for an officer to come by or that I could make an appointment to come to a police station.
‘I thought time would be of the essence to catch them, so I was quite surprised by their reaction.
‘I told the police that I saw them on every corner on crystal clear CCTV footage. They told me to take the footage to a police station so they could take a statement.
‘I think the police have given up, there are not enough police and I feel sorry for them because they are not getting any help.
“But criminals get away with it because the police are too busy and something has to be done.”
A spokesperson for Staffordshire Police said: ‘We are investigating the following reports of fake gold being used in exchange for cash.
‘A man and a woman entered Church Street Gold to exchange gold for cash. In between transactions, the suspects exchanged the gold for counterfeit and left the store.
‘The man is described as being of a large build, with black hair that was shaved on the sides, a black goatee and was wearing a suit.
‘The woman is also of large build, was wearing a matching suit, had long, straight, dark hair tied back and was wearing white trainers with a red heel.’
Any witnesses are asked to call police on 101, quoting incident number 396 of 20 June, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.