Fraudsters used a bricks-and-mortar pet shop as cover for their bogus online business, conning people out of vast sums of money.

Once the owner of Bakewell Pet Supplies in the Peak District realised what was happening, he posted a warning to customers online.

The online message from the ‘real Bakewell Pet Supplies said: “Please do not buy from this site – they take your money and no goods are received. We are a small shop in Bakewell and do not have a website. These fraudsters are imitating our company and using our details, We are doing everything to get this site taken down. If you have purchased please contact Action Fraud.”

The pet shop owner Mark Wakeman also contacted his local newspaper, the Derby Telegraph, to highlight the fact that hundreds of people were being tricked by fake website.

Mark first realised that fraudsters were using his pet shop’s business name after receiving dozens of calls from customers asking where their orders were.

He told the newspaper: "Sometimes we have had as many as 50 calls in a day, and we have also had people turning up at the shop wanting to know where their goods are that they have paid for, and they can get quite angry.

"I have to break the news to them that there aren't any goods and that they need to report the problem to the fraud people or at least to the police.”

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