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Old 24 December 2022, 04:44 AM   #1
shammad10
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Watchtrader & Co. - National crime agency post.

I saw a worrying post today by the NCA in the UK.
Watchtrader & Co are a big grey dealer in the UK.
Wonder what could have happened- I know people have previously been a customer for Rolex and this has really worried them.





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Old 24 December 2022, 05:08 AM   #2
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Thanks, it will be interesting to hear the back story and maybe something from Watchtrader & Co on their YouTube channel.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:11 AM   #3
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Dang! I thought they were straight shooters out of the bunch.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:21 AM   #4
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https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/ne...500-000-taxes/

Maybe it was unpaid taxes.
However seems that they've now taken people's consignment watches as payment. This could get very messy. £500k of unpaid taxes and a £360K fine.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:21 AM   #5
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It sounds to me like the new buzzword in the grey industry as liquidity dries up. That buzzword is “consignment”. A hunch is that watches were consigned yet the consignee wasn’t paid, thus initiating a complaint. This would be (again only if I’m correct) fraud. Another hypothesis is a sting operation. Stolen watches tracked to that location under an ongoing surveillance sting. It wouldn’t take much to tag a watches under-case-back with today’s tracking technology. Remember that apple iTags are huge commercially available tracking devices but law enforcement have tiny devices unavailable to the general public.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:31 AM   #6
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The National Crime Agency is a national law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's lead agency against organised crime; human, weapon and drug trafficking; cybercrime; and economic crime that goes across regional and international borders; but it can be tasked to investigate any crime. Wikipedia
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:37 AM   #7
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What’s ‘national_crime_agency’?

When I Google it I see ‘National Crime Agency (NCA)’ as the verified Twitter account.

That email address isn’t listed for enquires on the official NCA page.

OP, did you check out this post at all before reposting?
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:40 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drrd View Post
What’s ‘national_crime_agency’?

When I Google it I see ‘National Crime Agency (NCA)’ as the verified Twitter account.

That email address isn’t listed for enquires on the official NCA page.

OP, did you check out this post at all before reposting?
Yes it is on their official instagram account which is verified by a blue tick. Go and check it out.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:40 AM   #9
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It’s on Instagram. @national_crime_agency

Looks correct to me.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:41 AM   #10
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Yes it is on their official instagram account which is verified by a blue tick. Go and check it out.
So there are at least two Twitter accounts with National Crime Agency in the name?
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:44 AM   #11
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Go on

https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/

And click the Instagram link at the bottom of their website
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:44 AM   #12
shammad10
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So there are at least two Twitter accounts with National Crime Agency in the name?
This has nothing to do with twitter. It's on their official Instagram as has been said multiple times.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:46 AM   #13
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The verified government account is National Crime Agency (NCA).

OP you reposted a tweet from national_crime_agency.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:48 AM   #14
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Quote:
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The verified government account is National Crime Agency (NCA).

OP you reposted a tweet from national_crime_agency.
No I didn't I posted an instagram screenshot. Multiple people have tried to explain this to you, if you can't get it then just leave the thread
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:48 AM   #15
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It was an Instagram post and you can get to it from the NCA’s website.

Drrd - you are the only one mentioning twitter.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:55 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drrd View Post
What’s ‘national_crime_agency’?

When I Google it I see ‘National Crime Agency (NCA)’ as the verified Twitter account.

That email address isn’t listed for enquires on the official NCA page.

OP, did you check out this post at all before reposting?
this post is legit, their twitter account, which is linked to their website, posted the same picture as OP.
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:58 AM   #17
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why did it take the NCA 2 months to release this to the public though?
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:58 AM   #18
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Apologies, I don’t use either social media site.

That contact email address on the screen shot doesn’t show up on the NCA’s website.

Can someone post a link to the original Instagram post shown in the screenshot?
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Old 24 December 2022, 05:58 AM   #19
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You’re right. Here is the twitter link

https://twitter.com/NCA_UK/status/1606293952465977344
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:02 AM   #20
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To get to it from nca website

https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/

Scroll to the bottom of the website and click the social media button in the bottom right hand corner under follow us.
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:22 AM   #21
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Sounds like one of two things:

1. Tax issue completely separate and one of their intermediaries sold them a large quantity of stolen watches (unbeknownst to them).

2. Consignment inventory was seized by tracking authorities, who then realized the assets didn’t belong to the dealer, but to individual sellers.
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:26 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dannyp View Post
Sounds like one of two things:

1. Tax issue completely separate and one of their intermediaries sold them a large quantity of stolen watches (unbeknownst to them).

2. Consignment inventory was seized by tracking authorities, who then realized the assets didn’t belong to the dealer, but to individual sellers.
money laundering.
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:28 AM   #23
shammad10
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Either way, I guess it goes to show- no matter how 'trusted' these sellers are- you just never know.
Watchtrader & Co are one of the biggest UK greys who often supply footballers and celebs etc.
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:31 AM   #24
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Wrong’uns
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:39 AM   #25
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Bloody hell, this is a bit of a wake up call for going grey. they say buy the seller, I honestly thought they were good guys.
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:43 AM   #26
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Bloody hell, this is a bit of a wake up call for going grey. they say buy the seller, I honestly thought they were good guys.
Like most things, they’re all good guys until they’re not. I sincerely hope that no watches from our fellow members on this forum have become entangled in this issue.
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:49 AM   #27
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I dodged a bullet then. I was looking for a part exchange on my Panerai and they wanted to to send to them to sell on consignment. That was Tuesday.
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Old 24 December 2022, 06:53 AM   #28
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Like most things, they’re all good guys until they’re not. I sincerely hope that no watches from our fellow members on this forum have become entangled in this issue.

Agree. Also a big red flag for any dealer wanting to take consignment over direct payment.


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Old 24 December 2022, 06:54 AM   #29
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I thought about sending them a watch but something spooked me on companies house.
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Old 24 December 2022, 07:08 AM   #30
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I hope they are not related to The Watch Trader in Madison, Connecticut. I did 2 large purchases from them this year.
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