Chilling rise of Jellycat gangs – how toys sparked crimewave where KIDS are used as cover & scammers terrorise families

SLYLY stuffing the teddies in a child’s pram and handing others to children she had with her, no one suspected a thing when Ruby Smith walked out of the garden centre.

Using the cover of kids, the 35-year-old had managed to steal more than £1,600 worth of Jellycats from Bressingham Garden Centre near Diss, Norfolk, tricking people into thinking she was a regular mum on a shopping trip.

East Anglia News ServiceRuby Smith who admitted stealing Jellycats worth more than £4k across Norfolk[/caption]

CCTVAnother woman caught on CCTV using a buggy to steal Jellycats in Bridport, Dorset[/caption]

PASome of the Jellycats police found at Smith’s home[/caption]

Just weeks later she carried out a similar raid netting £1,679 worth of Jellycats and a third which netted her toys worth £512 – all of which were caught on CCTV.

She was jailed for six months suspended for two years at Norwich Magistrates’ Court in December after she admitted targeting three Norfolk garden centres a total of seven times in three months last year – making off with Jellycats worth over £4,000.

Shockingly Smith’s crimes are not the unique as the craze for the adorable soft toys has led to a Jellycat crime wave across the UK with shoplifters and scammers targeting the collectibles.

Garden centres and shops up and down the country have repeatedly had stocks of Jellycat teddies stolen in recent months.

Charlie Groves, 46, who owns Groves Nurseries in Bridport, Dorset, told in December how he saw a woman stuffing Jellycats worth £400 into a pram carrying a child when he checked his CCTV.

In a separate case, Robert Thornton, 42, was jailed for 21 months at Teeside Crown Court in August last year for a series of thefts including a raid on an independent art shop in Darlington where he smashed a window with a sledgehammer and escaped with nine Jellycats.

Why are these toys so desirable? Here we dive into the cute and cuddly world of the Jellycat-obsessed – and the dark criminal underworld which is targeting them with scams, stolen or fake goods and even death threats.

Collectors have been known to pay thousands for rare or “retired” Jellycats – which come in endless varieties from cute bunnies to fried eggs and even toilet rolls, each with adorable names such as Fuddlewuddle Lamb and Bashful Bunny.

A quick search on eBay reveals more than 25,000 Jellycats for sale with the most expensive listed at £23,799 for a “Jellycat Small Bashful Llama” described as “Rare And Retired New Without tags”.

On Vinted, one seller has a collection of around 20 Jellycats on offer for £10,000  – which despite its hefty price tag has still had over 2000 views. 

It’s this huge popularity and high resale value which has made Jellycat collectors easy prey for criminal gangs running scams and unscrupulous firms making counterfeit “Jellies”.

Lell Williamson, 27, fell victim to a scam after buying what she thought was a Sky Dragon Jellycat for £50 from a website called the Luxx Collective.

“Their website is very convincing, with real photos, reviews, and it’s beautifully laid out,” Lell, an operations supervisor from Norwich, told The Sun.

SuppliedLell Williamson inadvertently bought a counterfeit jellycat[/caption]

SuppliedThe fake blue Jellycat compared to the official black one[/caption]

“At the time of purchase I was a new Jellycat collector and didn’t know about ‘rare’ and ‘retired’ items so just assumed they had stock readily available.

“When the item had been dispatched I quickly realised that the shipping origin was coming from China which rung alarm bells immediately.

“I only then did my due diligence of checking the legitimacy of the website and quickly realised they’re a scam site which sell fake goods.

“I contacted my bank who advised that I either need to wait 15 days from purchase or when an item arrives, whichever soonest, to open a charge back claim.”

Lell was stunned when the soft toy arrived and she could barely tell the difference between it and an official Jellycat – with even the label and tags looking almost identical.

“It was quite an eye opener actually the lengths these companies are going to make the item look as similar as possible and had this been a gift I wouldn’t have even questioned its legitimacy honestly,” Lell said.

“It’s why I’m very wary of buying Jellycats second-hand because there are plenty of fakes, some better than others and unfortunately they can cost over the odds of what the real item would have cost in the first place as the second-hand market for jellies is huge and people pay three, four, five times the retail price of these.

“To a ‘professional’ collector they can probably tell right away, some people are like bloodhounds sniffing out fakes. But casual or new collectors probably wouldn’t be able to tell.

‘Harmful to kids’

Lell, who received a refund from her bank for the £50 after official manufacturers Jellycat London confirmed Luxx Collective was not a licensed seller, said it was worrying that fake toys, which may not have been subjected to rigorous safety testing could end up with babies and children.

“A £50 teddy that’s close to the faces of babies, made God knows where with God knows what, is quite frightening,” she added.

“A lot of adults obviously buy for children, and you can’t guarantee the fake one has been through testing and it states CE on the label – so potentially it could be harmful for a child.”

The Sun reached out to Luxx Collective but received no response. Shortly after Lell had reported the fake Jellycats, the site stopped using the word “Jellycat” on its website although the descriptions and pictures remain almost identical to the official website.

Facebook scams

Another huge scam in Jellycat circles involves criminals advertising toys for sale – often using stolen or Photoshopped images – asking for payment by bank transfer, then never sending the customer their items.

Ellie Bell, 31, who runs a Jellycat fan group on Facebook, says she has to block around 10 suspected scammers a day from joining her group, and still has some slip through the net.

She says she has been collecting Jellycats for around 10 years and even made a lucrative side-hustle by colouring a light-coloured bunny in with Sharpie and re-selling it on eBay for £60 – leading to collectors sending her custom-requests.

But Ellie, from Colchester, Essex, says the increase in scamming has started to break down trust within what used to be a supportive community.

SuppliedEllie Bell with her adorable collection of Jellycats[/caption]

SuppliedEllie made a little side hustle colouring Jellycats in and selling them on Ebay[/caption]

SuppliedEllie uses her Jellycats to decorate her homes[/caption]

“I think scamming increased in Covid. But I think with the popularity of Jellycats now, I think the scammers have cottoned on to the fact that they are valuable and sought after,” she said.

“It’s awful, isn’t it? Like you literally have got to be completely void of a conscience to scam someone by telling you’re going to send them a cuddly bunny then taking their money.

“We’re not even a big group on Facebook but we’re getting, I’d say, probably at least 10 scam Facebook pages every day wanting to join the group.

“That’s just suspicious looking pages. So for example, if people had only just made their profile, or they’ve got one or two friends, or things like that, you have to be quite wary of it.

“When I first started the group, you didn’t even have to answer any questions to get into the group – that’s something new, which I started at the end of December because we were getting so many different people saying that they’ve been scammed on our page – as well as on neighbouring pages.

“Scammers will use other people’s photos and pretend they have items for sale they don’t have.

“They’ll just literally take anyone’s photos. But they’re getting so good at it now. A lot of the groups will say you have to put your name on a card with the date to prove it’s your picture.

“But the scammers take these pictures and then Photoshop their own name on there and sometimes you can barely even tell.”

Another scam which seems to be on the increase is buyers on Vinted claiming they didn’t receive their Jellycat or received a damaged one, and demanding a refund, when the sellers claim the product they sent was pristine.

Death threats

In one shocking case, a woman who reported such a scam to Vinted, as advised, was subject to a barrage of vile death threats by the scammer.

The horrific messages, which were posted on Facebook, read: “You b***h. I’m gonna find you and I’m gonna kill your whole family… I’ll kill your whole family in front of you….7.62 bullets will go through your forehead.”

The scammer then attempted to message the woman who reported her via other accounts. Vinted removed all the accounts.

Another Jellycat collector said she had experienced the same thing and reported it to police.

“I made a report to police they did all the hard work and found the threat came from America and have made an arrest on threat of life,” she also posted online.

The Sun reached out to both women and Vinted for comment.

Vinted told The Sun: “The safety of members has always been our top priority and our security teams work daily to ensure a smooth trading experience. We have policies in place to protect members and will take action against any accounts which violate our guidelines.

“Vinted offers other security measures to help members safe trading on the platform (like blocking duplicate account creation, additional phone verification, and other identity checks for suspicious behavior). Members can also voluntarily add additional protection to their account and enable two-step verification via their personal settings.”

Jelly tatts

Another Jellycat superfan Hannah Tynan, 32, says she loves Jellycats so much she has got 10 of her favourite characters tattooed on her body.

Unfortunately she said it’s almost “impossible” not to risk being scammed unless you buy from an official retailer.

Hannah, from Milford Haven in Wales, said: “I started collecting as a child and revisited the love for them as an adult. I’ve been properly collecting for around five years.

“I have a large collection of over 100 Jellycats and believe it or not over 10 Jellycat tattoos.

“I have a lot of tattoos anyway but got my favourite Jellycat tattooed initially (Fergus) and it spiralled from there. My partner thinks I’m bonkers! But he’s supportive. He has to be.

“I think the community can be amazing and also kind of toxic to be honest.

SuppliedHannah Tynan has 100 Jellycats and 10 Jellycat tattoos[/caption]

SuppliedOne of Hannah’s Jellycat tattoos[/caption]

SuppliedHannah says her partner thinks she’s ‘bonkers’ because of her Jellycat obsession[/caption]

“A lot of people help each other out. The excitement for a new drop gets us all excited.

“Scamming is huge currently. I have a lot of friends that come to me for advice on fakes.

“Vinted is prime for fakes and there is plenty a day selling to people who sadly have no idea. As the popularity has increased more companies are taking lead with making the ‘lookalikes’.

“I think it’s almost impossible to not risk being scammed online now unless buying from a verified seller/site.”

Fighting back

Ellie, who says her Jellycat hobby “brings her a little bit of joy”, told how the community was fighting back by sharing details of known scammers with each other – and offering each other advice on how to safeguard themselves against con artists.

There are even groups on Facebook dedicated to exposing Jellycat scammers – which name and shame offenders.

“I always advise people to use platforms like Vinted or eBay where you have buyer and seller protection – or if they are going to buy from people on Facebook use Paypal Goods and Services, which also offers protection,” Ellie said.

“If people can look out for themselves and they know what to look for, then hopefully, eventually, all the scammers will give up.”

Jellycat did not respond to requests for comment. Previously it has told other media outlets: “Here at Jellycat, only our characters and fans do the talking for us.”

The Sun also reached out to Facebook for comment on Jellycat scammers using its platform.

SuppliedMore of Ellie’s Jellycat collection – Ellie called scammers and criminals targeting Jellycats as ‘heartless’[/caption]

PAPolice found stolen Jellycats in envelopes ready to be sent to unsuspecting buyers[/caption]

PANorfolk Police recovered a total of 40 Jellycats from Smith’s house[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]