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The Daily Mirror investigators who exposed rogues in the Thursday edition of the paper between 1999 and 2006. Journalists Andrew Penman and Michael Greenwood found the cheats and confronted them.
The investigations column, launched in 1997, was originally called Sorted and edited by Penman and Gary Jones. Jones was later replaced by Dawn Alford and then Greenwood in 1999. It was renamed Penman and Greenwood Investigate in 2004, later becoming Penman and Sommerlad Investigate. It is now just Penman Investigates.
The FreelanceUK website reports that they were crowned "UK scam-busters" of 2005 after winning the title of National Consumer Journalists of the Year; they won the award again in 2006.
According to the Press Gazette the journalists were commended for their journalistic efforts by a panel of independent judges who said "They don't mind calling a scumbag a scumbag. They spotlight some major scams with a mix of dramatic journalism and plenty of humour."
Alan Milburn MP presented the Trading Standards Institute award. The Daily Mirror said the ultimate accolade was represented by the fact that some of the swindlers had failed to sue or have lodged failed complaints with the Press Complaints Commission.

The News of the World was a weekly national "red top" tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling English-language newspaper, and at closure still had one of the highest English-language circulations. It was originally established as a broadsheet by John Browne Bell, who identified crime, sensation and vice as the themes that would sell most copies. The Bells sold to Henry Lascelles Carr in 1891; in 1969, it was bought from the Carrs by Rupert Murdoch's media firm News Limited. In 1984, as News Limited reorganised into News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation, the newspaper transformed into a tabloid and became the Sunday sister paper of The Sun.

The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply The Mirror. It had an average daily print circulation of 716,923 in December 2016, dropping to 587,803 the following year. Its Sunday sister paper is the Sunday Mirror. Unlike other major British tabloids such as The Sun and the Daily Mail, the Mirror has no separate Scottish edition; this function is performed by the Daily Record and the Sunday Mail, which incorporate certain stories from the Mirror that are of Scottish significance.

Which? is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights, and offering independent advice. The brand name is used by the Consumers' Association, a registered charity and company limited by guarantee that owns several businesses, including Which? Financial Services Limited, Which? Legal Limited and Which? Limited, which publishes the Which? Papers.

The Daily Express is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson. Its sister paper, the Sunday Express, was launched in 1918. In June 2022, it had an average daily circulation of 201,608.

Metro is a British freesheet tabloid newspaper published by DMG Media. The newspaper is distributed from Monday to Friday mornings on public places in areas of England, Wales and Scotland. Copies are also handed out to pedestrians. In 2018, Metro overtook The Sun to become the most circulated newspaper in the United Kingdom.
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid The Sun. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of the News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, which made him the youngest editor of a British national newspaper in more than half a century. From 1995, Morgan edited the Daily Mirror, but was fired in 2004. He was the editorial director of First News from 2006 to 2007. In 2014, Morgan became the first editor-at-large of the MailOnline website's US operation.
Tony Victor Parsons is an English journalist, broadcaster, and author. He began his career as a music journalist for New Musical Express (NME), writing about punk music. Later he wrote for The Daily Telegraph, before going on to write for the Daily Mirror for 18 years. Since September 2013, Parsons has written a column for The Sun. He was for a time a regular guest on the BBC Two arts review programme The Late Show, and appeared infrequently on the successor Newsnight Review; he also briefly hosted a series on Channel 4 called Big Mouth.
Nicholas Cohen is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a columnist for The Observer, and is one for The Spectator. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left The Observer in 2022 and began publishing on the Substack platform.
The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the federal law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enforcing the laws that defend the United States' mail system from illegal or dangerous use. Its jurisdiction covers any crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S. Mail, the postal system, or postal employees. With roots going back to the late 18th century, the USPIS is the country's oldest continuously operating federal law enforcement agency.
Anglian Water Services Limited is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the area formerly the responsibility of the Anglian Water Authority. The remaining functions of the authority were transferred to the Environment Agency. Anglian Water is regulated under the United Kingdom Water Industry Act 1991.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic regulator. The intention was for the OFT to make markets work well for consumers, ensuring vigorous competition between fair-dealing businesses and prohibiting unfair practices such as rogue trading, scams, and cartels. Its role was modified and its powers changed by the Enterprise Act 2002.
Peter Clarence Foster is an Australian career criminal who has been imprisoned in Australia, United Kingdom, the United States, and Vanuatu for a variety of offences related to weight loss and other scams as well as absconding from justice. His convictions range from fraud and money laundering to contempt of court and resisting arrest.
Carole Anne Malone is an English TV presenter, journalist, newspaper columnist and broadcaster. She appears regularly on television and radio, and writes a column for the Daily Express.
Martin Steven Lewis CBE is an English financial journalist and broadcaster. Lewis founded the website MoneySavingExpert.com. He sold the website in 2012 to the Moneysupermarket.com group for up to £87 million. Lewis is currently a presenter for ITV, on the morning shows Good Morning Britain and This Morning since 2007. He also presents The Martin Lewis Money Show.
The American Biographical Institute (ABI) was a paid-inclusion vanity award publisher based in Raleigh, North Carolina which had been publishing biographical reference directories since 1967. It generated revenue from sales of valueless certificates and books to those listed. Each year the company awarded hundreds of "Man of the Year" or "Woman of the Year" awards at between $195 and $295 each.
Jan Moir is a British newspaper columnist. She works for the Daily Mail.

The Sun is a British tabloid newspaper, published by the News Group Newspapers division of News UK, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Lachlan Murdoch's News Corp. It was founded as a broadsheet in 1964 as a successor to the Daily Herald, and became a tabloid in 1969 after it was purchased by its current owner. The Sun had the largest daily newspaper circulation in the United Kingdom, but was overtaken by freesheet rival Metro in March 2018.
Gary Jones is a British journalist who was editor of the Daily Express from March 2018 until September 2024. Earlier in his career he was on the staff of the News of the World, The Sunday People and the Daily Mirror. From 2016 to 2018. Jones was the Editor of the Sunday Mirror and The Sunday People.
A vehicle matching scam works by people approaching owners who have put their cars up for sale in car sales publications and promising falsely to match the sellers with buyers in return for a one-off fee. On most occasions however, no buyers are found and the agent takes the fee.