Playback serverIf a title won’t play, switch servers.
Rip Off Britain
Season 17 · Episode 31
Banned from 500 shops by facial recognition
0.043mJanuary 5, 2026
The team investigate the use of facial recognition software on Britain's high streets after a woman from Salford is falsely identified as a toilet roll thief.
Episodes
- Episode 1Tenants turned my family home into a cannabis farm
- Episode 2Water bills are going up, but what’s it all being spent on?
- Episode 3My conservatory roof shattered, but no-one’s taking responsibility
- Episode 4I paid for a smartphone but received a lump of clay
- Episode 5Timeshare nightmare
- Episode 6I cancelled my card, but scammers kept spending
- Episode 7Brazen car scam caught on camera
- Episode 8Nail glue took my daughter’s skin off
- Episode 9Super-scam cost me nearly £500,000
- Episode 10Dream holiday left me with gastric infection
- Episode 11Addicted to shopping app
- Episode 12Fire safety upgrades – who should foot the bill?
- Episode 13Gift experience voucher left me £200 out of pocket
- Episode 14Scammer posed as my mum – while she sat next to me
- Episode 15Luxury resort turned out to be a building site
- Episode 16New home knotweed no-one told us about
- Episode 17£1,000 to send a parcel
- Episode 18I had to do the maths to prove my energy company wrong
- Episode 19I took out a family trust to protect my kids, but now I regret it
- Episode 20My holiday was cancelled at hotel check-in
- Episode 21Insurer says I’m wrong about having cancer
- Episode 22Broadband firm has trapped my car with a telegraph pole
- Episode 23The Scottish lodge I invested in didn’t exist
- Episode 24Excluded from cheap energy tariffs because of where I live
- Episode 25Our holiday was not as advertised
- Episode 26Scammers used our street to open fake accounts
- Episode 27AI romance scammer broke my heart
- Episode 28Help! Is my online job a scam?
- Episode 29I was part of the world’s largest scam
- Episode 30Fake Michael Jackson brought bailiffs to my door
- Episode 31Banned from 500 shops by facial recognition
- Episode 32The banned online pet store still taking your money
- Episode 33I’m blind - but my bank sends letters I can’t read
- Episode 34Roof repair rogues took aim at our homes
- Episode 35Slimed by sludge pipe leak during our dream cruise
- Episode 36Elvis event left me all shook up
- Episode 37Owed thousands by my energy company
- Episode 38I won in court – but I’m still out of pocket
- Episode 39Next door up in flames - but I had to pay
- Episode 40Four-day delay, but my airline won’t pay
- Episode 41Careless courier driver destroyed my garden wall
- Episode 42Van seized after fake debt ruling
- Episode 43Blaze repair delays ruined our home
- Episode 44The five-year wait to return to my home
- Episode 45Holiday hotel blaze left me fearing for my life