4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Janepie33]

DS received a letter today purportedly from BP, claiming that he drove away from a fuel station in June without paying.

The letter has his full name and car registration number on it, but is printed on poor quality paper without a proper BP heading. It is asking him to pay the money to the store mentioned in the letter.The envelope was also hand written with a 1st class stamp on it.

DS has never driven away without paying (and surely if he had, he would have been chased for the payment way before 3 months had lapsed!?).

I was just wondering if anyone had ever received a similar letter?

[redbug]

Sounds a bit suspect. Is the address and or BP station on it local to you? (maybe visit). If I had not paid I am sure I would remember too. Also I don't think I would have had a letter if I had not paid, but a visit from the police! Certainly would not pay the money.

[Egluntyne]

Sounds like a scam. I'm sure any filling station with a bonafide complaint would have referred the matter to the police, as driving away without paying for fuel is a crime. Your OH would have to go to court etc. The filling station would have to back their allegation up with evidence such as CCTV. Sounds like someone dodgy has got hold of driver details and is trying to make a fast buck. BP would use properly prepared letters, typed on good quality paper, and you would not be expected to send any money to the filling station. Turn the tables on this criminal mastermind and report the matter to the police.

[chuckmum6]

Sound dodgy to me, I would take it to your police station, I am sure if it were genuine you would have alreay heard from the authority's. A BP garage would have CCTV proof of the drive away too.

[lillybettybabs]

Ask for CCTV evidence before reporting to the police, I have nearly innocently drove off without paying

as i had something on my mind. Fortunately i managed to make it look like i was moving my car for someone

else to us the pump.

[Egluntyne]

I'd have nothing to do with the garage as there is no way that they could legitimately have got hold of your name and address.

 

Might be worth a call to BP. Look them up though, don't use any details provided on the letter.

[lillybettybabs]

The only other thing would be a fake number plate that someone else has used to steal fuel.

[sjp]

nearly all petrol stations have CCTV with number plate recognition capability some also photograph the driver as well but as said it's the police that deal with the fines/ prosecution officially the garage can't get the reg details but in reality they can. Now a days hardy an of the oil companies own the petrol stations a lot are franchises

[Willow]

I would get DS to write to both police and BP Fraud dept enclosing a copy of the letter and envelope and ask them both to investigate as he did not drive away without paying and has doubts that this is a genuine letter from BP.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Guest

[lillybettybabs]

Good plan, I have had some terribly scruffy letters that i have doubted - some have been genuine but

some have been dodgy. BP head office would be a good first port of call to see what their process is.

[Bramble]

So they claim he "made off without payment" in June, but are only now writing to ask for the money ... mmm, sounds flippin' dodgy to me - as others have said, I would expect a fairly swift visit from the police backed up by CCTV evidence (many garages have ANPR cameras too) not a scruffy letter three months later? Making off without payment is a crime (Theft Act 1978, if memory serves from my studies decades ago???) and most companies the size of BP would have a no tolerance policy, contacting the police immediately? I would DEFINITELY contact BP and the Police ...

[soapdragon]

Just adding my 10p worth! I agree with everyone else - must be a scam as otherwise the police would be involved. However, if they weren't before then they should be now! Definitely worth reporting to both BP and police!

 

Very interested to hear the outcome!

[LolaLayla]

I thought it sounded like a scam too and OH agrees. He reckons you would have heard much sooner if it was a genuine issue. I would be interested to hear the outcome too.

[merlina]

If you haven't already, try googling a distinctive passage from the letter - that often throws up info about scams, certainly the more prevailant ones

[The Dogmother]

The only other thing would be a fake number plate that someone else has used to steal fuel.

 

This happened to my last boss, along with a string of motoring offences

 

If you haven't already, try googling a distinctive passage from the letter - that often throws up info about scams, certainly the more prevailant ones

 

Good idea, hope you get it sorted.

[Janepie33]

If you haven't already, try googling a distinctive passage from the letter - that often throws up info about scams, certainly the more prevailant ones

 

I did have a look for the latest scams, but couldn't find anything similar. I also looked up the man who had signed (well I say signed, it was more like a couple of initials ) the letter and there he was on Facebook, with lots of pictures of him with a young child and his workplace listed as BP.

 

DS is going to contact the police and the garage tomorrow. He knows he has never driven away without paying for fuel, but he has used the garage listed on the letter a couple of times.

 

Watch this space..........

[kissinuk]

I'd have nothing to do with the garage as there is no way that they could legitimately have got hold of your name and address.

 

Might be worth a call to BP. Look them up though, don't use any details provided on the letter.

 

Unfortunately that isn't correct, the DVLA can provide this to certain companies for the following reasons (by no means suggesting this means its genuine though):

 

‘Reasonable cause’ can include:

 

finding out who was responsible for an accident

tracing the owner of an abandoned vehicle

issuing parking tickets

tracing people responsible for driving off without paying for goods and services

tracing vehicle owners suspected of insurance fraud

 

https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla

[Egluntyne]

Fair enough. Even so, the whole thing still stinks to high heaven.

 

Nice little earner, though, if you can get people to meekly hand over money, without looking into the matter properly.

[Chucky Mama]

Just read this if it helps Click

[Patricia W]

I think if they really had evidence that the incident had happened, the police would have been around. I think CM's link is very helpful- insist they provide the evidence!

[Egluntyne]

Any update on this? I'd be really interested to hear of any outcome.

[Janepie33]

I phoned the local police and explained the situation. She told us not to go to the petrol station but to contact BP and find out their policy for people driving away without paying. She also said that some petrol stations do deal with people driving away, without initially referring it to the police. I e mailed BP but have not heard back yet.

 

Yesterday, coincidentally, I had a policeman contact me regarding the cars the family drive. When he came round, I asked him "Is this to do with the BP thing?"

"What BP thing?" he asked. He told us that he was there to make a 'welfare visit'. It turns out that when DS went night fishing in Dorset last weekend, he parked his car in a remote place and the Dorset police found the car and looked up the owner's details and found that the car was a long way from home. They then contacted our local police who called round to see if DS was OK. Nice to know that someone is looking out for him!

 

Needless to say, we showed him the BP letter and he agreed that it looked suspicious and to contact BP head office. He said that he hadn't heard of a fraud of this nature but not to pay them any money. He also said to take the letter to the local police station if we are still suspicious.

[Egluntyne]

Thanks Janiepie. Keep us posted.

[Janepie33]

Oooops! How very embarrassing!!

 

Turns out DS didn't pay for the fuel after al!! He'd paid for a lottery ticket and some crisps and things and the cashier didn't add the fuel to the bill, so technically he DID actually drive off without paying!

 

All resolved now - very amicably. And yes, they did get his contact details from the DVLA and no it wasn't a scam after all.

[ohcarolina]

Priceless

 

Easily done though.

 

This has kept me going for weeks. Tee hee!