Oh dear.....

It appears that there are some idiots out there that think someone called Phil is running this blog. Clearly these idiots cannot read properly. The people that run this blog live in Preston, Lancashire. We set it up originally to reveal the fraudulent activities of David Ridyard and his company Netwise.  Subsequently we had people from the Almeria region of Spain contacting us about this man's whereabouts.  On our own investigations we have discovered that he is up to his old tricks in Spain. Creating websites that are supposed to be for other businesses but they do not actually exist. Getting involved with other people that like to rip people off. So we decided to reveal them as well.  As this blog develops we will be revealing other fraudsters in other parts of the UK and Spain. Ones that affect UK citizens. 

Email from someone he defrauded

Many thanks for getting in touch with us by telephone and for forwarding details of

the problems you have had.   I shall be passing this on to the police.   I was

absolutely livid at the time (and haven't really calmed down about it since!) as this Ridyard

caused us a huge amount of inconvenience and a considerable amount of money to

get our website back.   He had evidently been taking deposits for accommodation

here, so if he'd been doing it to us he was obviously doing it dozens of times over

per day and that gets into a lot of money per week.   He was quite canny because

he only took small deposits ie. £10/£20/£30 so managed to kjeep his head below the

parapet.

Will be in touch with you again.

Best wishes.

And there's more on him

Man keeps getting letters meant for previous owner

Sponsored by

Published on Tue Sep 08 12:42:51 BST 2009

A frustrated homeowner from Lancashire has told how he is still being bombarded with letters addressed to its former owner – almost two years after he moved out.

Terry Smithies, 52, has been sent hundreds of letters – including invoices and phone bills – addressed to a firm run by businessman David Ridyard who sold him the house in November 2007.

Mr Ridyard's company Netwise Computing and Stridergold – which sold games consoles over the internet – was wound up in the UK by the Insolvency Service.

But Mr Ridyard's Spanish arm of Netwise is still operating – and is registered to the property in The Oaks in Walton Park, near Preston.

Mr Smithies – who has even had visits from bailiffs – says that despite the company being wound up, the Insolvency Service has told him it could not guarantee taking out a prosecution against Netwise's directors, David and Margaret Ridyard.

Mr Smithies said: "The police told me that they could do more to him if he pinched a pint of milk than they can for this.

"We had a visit from fraud officers from Lancashire Police last year but they came to a complete full stop and that is why the Insolvency Service got involved.

"I still get Mr Ridyard's invoices for car hire at Manchester Airport, so he obviously still comes back to this country but they cannot do anything more than they have done, it is just crazy."

He said the stream of letters had "slowed a little" from the 20-a-week he was receiving within months of buying the home in November 2007.

A spokesman for the Insolvency Service confirmed an investigation into Netwise had shown the company had no stock leading to complaints from customers that they had not received goods.

But she could not confirm that any further action was being taken to ensure a prosecution against the firm.

She said: "It is the case that further action can be taken including a criminal prosecution, possibly involving Trading Standards.

"However, we are unable to comment on the situation with regards this particular case."

The Lancashire Evening Post was unable to contact Mr Ridyard.

Ridyard the fraud - Proof for you to read.

Homeowners inundated by company's mail

Sponsored by

Published on Fri May 30 10:43:52 BST 2008

A man has been plagued by hundreds of letters and received a police visit at his new Lancashire home – because of the businessman who sold it to him.

Terry Smithies, 51, knew his new home in The Oaks in Walton Park, near Bamber Bridge, had previously been used as the registered address for computer firm Netwise Computing when he bought it in November.

But he thought that previous owner David Ridyard would have unregistered the address when he moved to Spain.

But that is not the case – and since then the new occupant and his wife, Diane, have been inundated with correspondence and even received a visit from police after a crime was reported against the company in Sussex.

Among the customers who have written to the address is former Football Association chief executive Graham Kelly, for whom Mr Ridyard's firm had designed a website.

Now the Smithies have been forced to put a sign up outside their house letting people know they have nothing to do with the business.

Mr Smithies said: "It is like having a giant neon sign outside your house saying you can get computer parts from here and not being able to turn it off.

"We get letters every day from customers, the Inland Revenue, credit card companies, all sorts of people, because he is still running everything he used to run by my house.

"I have nothing to prove that he does not still live here."

Upon contacting the Serious Crime Agency, he was told to get hold of a copy of a book on the subject of "cyber-crime".

Companies House, the official register of companies in the UK, has Netwise Computing Ltd registered at the Walton Park address.

A Lancashire Police spokesman confirmed officers had visited Mr Smithies last month after being contacted by anti-fraud officers at Sussex Police.

He said: "We made inquiries with the couple in Lancashire and reported back to Sussex that the individual involved was no longer at the address.

The Lancashire Evening Post was unable to contact Mr Ridyard.

Do you know David Ridyard or Netwise Computing?

If so contact David Coates on 01772 838162 or e-mail david.coates@lep.co.uk

Ridyard Owner of websites

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Nothing new today but...

We have been monitoring and reading the 6 forums in the Almeria area. From our bit of England it appears that there are actually some very nice people around.

That was until this weekend. The 6 good forums are now down to just 4 very good ones. 2 better than the other 2.  In our honourable opinion the two best are www.almanzoraforum.com and www.arboleas.co.uk/forum The www.viva-almeria.com forum and the www.costa-almeria forum are OK but rarely used.

The other two have very few posts and only serve to cause problems for others. It looks like there is a lot of jealousy going on. So we suppose that in a way these two can be placed in the same bracket as the others named on this blog. Not so much fraudsters in the true meaning of the word but as a pair of ignorant men that have nothing better to do with their lives with huge chips on their shoulders.

So, in a nutshell. if you are looking for advice on legal aspects and where or where not to live in Almeria go to the Almanzora forum they are very knowledgeable.  If you want advice on living in Almeria and the social side of life and to meet nice people visit the Arboleas forum.  These two are way ahead of the rest in quality and great content.

We did warn you!!

Well, we did warn you over there.  SmoothFM are so-called having 'difficulties' with their transmitter.  More likely they are having financial difficulties and conning their advertisers. Who would want to advertise on a radio station that only reaches half the local population they are claiming to reach.  Another con man just like Ridyard.

Alan Sweet and Smooth FM

Wow, things are certainly getting interesting in the Albox area. Not only is Ridyard now suspected of stealing from the pantomime charity but Alan Sweet is also said to be involved in stealing money from the funds raised in his pre Christmas charity do on his radio station.

So what do we have now?

A fraudster called David Ridyard.

Alan Sweet and his wife Mo that run SmoothFM are in financial difficulty and suspected of stealing from charity.

Alan Sweet suspected thief

Mo Sweet Suspected thief

Mark Deakin now proven to be a thug who beats people up on football pitches as well as a drug dealer.

Who on earth would want to live in that town? Not me or any of my friends that's for sure.