Haulier warns of a photographic scam
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• by Charles Young A Dorset haulier fears it is the victim of a photography scam which could have hit hundreds of hauliers across the UK.
Shaftesbury-based CB Morgan was invited to buy framed photographs of its vehicles taken on a south-bound section of the Al by a company called Truck World, said to be based in Caine, Lancs.
The shots were taken in January and CB Morgan returned the order form for two framed copies with a cheque for .270 the following month. Since then the firm has heard nothing from the photographer.
A call to the local police in Lancashire revealed that there was no one at the address given on the Truck World's order form, and repeated calls to its advertised phone number have remained unanswered.
CB Morgan managing director David Hardiman says he felt confident in handing over the cheque as he had bought some photographs in
the 1980s from a company with the same name; they are still hanging on the walls of his office.
He believes that someone might now be trading off a previous company's good name.
"There was a legitimate photographer at one time, so maybe someone's cottoned on to the fact that this is a pretty easy way of getting people to send money," says Hardiman.
A spokesman for Truckworld, the trucker's service area in Purfleet, says it has received a number of calls over the past 18 months from angry haulers demanding their photographs. Each time it has had to explain that the two companies are not linked.
"Around 18 months ago we had a spate of calls from hauliers who had had pictures taken at a show," he says. "The firm may have had a stand there. It's unfortunate for us because they might be giving us a bad name."