Hire firms are still being targeted by fraudsters, despite the arrests of three men earlier this month.

The men, who were released on bail, were arrested for theft by false representation in connection with the theft of £600,000 worth of kit from HotCam by a group claiming to work for BBC Worldwide.

Last week, West London hire firm S&O Media was approached by a man claiming to work for the BBC who wanted to hire two DSLR cameras.

Staff became suspicious when they were asked for replacement invoices in what appears to be an effort to obtain BBC purchase order numbers.

A man who said he worked for Sky also called rental firm Direct Photographic to find out the broadcaster’s account code.

Someone claiming to work for Sky’s stills unit then tried to hire a Canon 5D, Nikon D3X and two laptops. The company cancelled the order and no kit was taken in either case.

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