The UK photographic dealer that lost tens of thousands of pounds worth of cameras after falling victim to fraud fears the top-of-the-range models will never be recovered.
Robert White Photographic claims that police have wasted valuable time in tracing the lost goods which include four Nikon D3x cameras that carry a retail price of £6,000 a piece.
Meanwhile, the Dorset-based store has revealed some details of how the fraud was carried out.
It received a faxed purchase order, purportedly from the BBC, and was told that a taxi would be sent to collect the gear because it was needed urgently.
A Robert White spokesman said the purchase order was similar to ones it had received from the BBC in the past and appeared genuine: ‘The purchase order was in the correct BBC format; the order number format was correct and the contact details, such as invoice address, were correct.’
It later turned out that calls to the contact extension number were being ‘re-directed to a mobile phone’ and the taxi delivery address was an old BBC studio address.
Robert White has since hit out at Dorset Police for its ‘slow and poor’ response to the crime and says that any help it has received is ‘too little too late’.
At the time of writing Amateur Photographer (AP) had yet to receive a comment on the matter from Dorset Police.
The BBC’s internal investigation unit has told Robert White that it is looking into the matter.
At the time of writing, a spokesman for the BBC had yet to issue a response following a request for comment from AP.
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