07/05/2013
Bag Scam Residents
are advised to check carefully before they employ traders to remove rubbish
from their property. This
warning comes after a Coventry resident hired a two ton bag to clear some
rubbish from his home. The consumer had seen an advertisement on a small adds
website which only carried a telephone number and no address. The
trader dropped the bag off at the resident’s property and the resident paid the
trader in full for the bag and for its removal and disposal, after it had been
filled. The
resident filled the bag but the trader refused to return to collect the
rubbish, becoming quite aggressive on the phone and has since disappeared! For
more information visit: http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/blog/2013/05/02/check-before-you-chuck/
07/05/2013
Telephone Preference Service Scam A consumer contacted Warwickshire Trading Standards after
receiving an unexpected phone call from someone who claimed they could get unexpected
phone calls stopped for £1.80! The consumer gave the caller his card details
and the caller took almost £70 from his account. The consumer does not know the
name of the caller. Trading Standards advise consumers not to provide their
card details to anyone who calls them. It is free to join the Telephone
Preference Service (http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html).
07/05/2013
Computer Virus Scam A consumer reported to Warwickshire Trading Standards
that he was using his computer when there was a ‘big flash’ and a notice
appeared warning him that he had accessed illegal websites, his computer was
now ‘locked’ and he must pay a fine of £100 in Ukash vouchers. The message
included a photo of a policeman and reference to Cheshire Police. This is a well-known computer virus called ransomware.
Computer users must not send any money and seek professional advice to remove
the virus. For more information visit: https://www.getsafeonline.org/protecting-yourself/ransomware/
07/05/2013
‘E-Book’ High Pressure Selling Businesses
in Warwickshire are warned to beware of high pressure selling phone calls from publishers
offering advertising space in ‘e-books’, or electronic books. One Warwickshire
trader reported spending 30min on the phone after an unexpected call who wanted
them to part with £8000! Warwickshire
Trading Standards advise Warwickshire traders not to agree to buying goods and
services from unexpected phone callers. For more information visit: http://tinyurl.com/8rexdcr
07/05/2013 Scams Awareness Month: Rugby
residents get the scams message Free
information and advice on scams and frauds will be available for Rugby
residents at the Clock Towers Shopping Centre on Thursday 9 May (9am to
mid-afternoon). For more
information visit: http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/blog/2013/05/02/rugby-residents-get-the-scams-message/
07/05/2013 Alarm Sale Warning Kineton Consumers
in the Kineton area reported receiving unexpected phone calls from an alarm
sales company that claimed to be ‘working in the local area’. Warwickshire
Trading Standards advise residents not to buy alarms from any unexpected doorstep
callers or to accept a ‘free’ alarm in return for signing an agreement for a
monitored alarm. Beware of
businesses that use high pressure selling to sell overpriced and unnecessary alarms
and ‘monitoring’ agreements. Some are known to have set up and gone out of
business within a few years, leaving consumers with worthless contracts. Get security
advice from your local Police Crime Prevention Officer. For more information visit: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/20111101_alarm_sales.pdf
29/04/2013 May is Scams Awareness
Month
Have you
won the Euro lottery, been told that a relative has left you £millions in a
Hong Kong Bank account or received an unexpected phone call to let you know
your computer needs fixing? If the answer is yes, then you are one of the
thousands of Warwickshire residents who are targeted each year by scammers!
Fortunately,
help is at hand. This May, Warwickshire's Consumer Empowerment Partnership is
raising awareness of the many and varied mass marketing scams perpetrated by
fraudsters and criminal gangs.
For more
information visit: http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/blog/2013/04/29/may-is-scams-awareness-month-2013/
29/04/2013 Rugby Driveway Cleaning
Warning
Warwickshire
Trading Standards are warning Rugby residents to beware rogue traders offering
‘driveway cleaning services’. One resident reported that her mother had been
targeted by a rogue trader offering to clean her driveway. Three men driving an
unmarked white van door knocked at her mother’s home and offered to clean her
driveway for £200, down from £249 as a ‘special offer’. The elderly lady did
not want the work doing but felt pressurised in to agreeing. The rogue traders
told her that if it was not done today it would cost more and demanded cash. No
paperwork was provided and no cancellation rights were given. Fore more
information on rogue traders visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/scams
29/04/2013 Wine ‘Investment’
Consumers are
warned to beware of cold calls from traders offering investments in unregulated
products such as wine. One consumer reported to Warwickshire Trading Standards
that he had lost almost £30,000 after a trader failed to pay him back the money
he had invested. For more information on unregulated investments visit: http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/blog/2013/01/08/wine-investors-250000-in-the-red/
29/04/2013 Check Before You Renew
Warwickshire
Trading Standards are advising consumers to check that they are on an official
website before they apply for or renew their passport, EHIC card or driving
license. Unofficial websites have sprung up offering similar services, for
which they charge a fee over and above the actual cost. A Warwickshire consumer
complained that she had paid £23.50 for two EHIC cards after visiting an
unofficial website. The EHIC card is free to obtain from the NHS. To avoid any
risk of identity fraud, always use an official and secure website before
inputting any personal data. For more information visit: http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/blog/2013/04/23/check-before-you-renew/
29/04/2013 Southam Tarmac Gang Warning
Warwickshire
Trading Standards are warning residents to beware of a tarmac gang operating
door to door in the Southam area. The rogue traders claimed to be based in
Manchester but enquiries suggested that they were not at the address given.
Like many rogue traders operating today, they have many of the same trappings
as legitimate traders such as websites and 0800 numbers.
29/04/2013 Silver Scam
Residents
wishing to sell gold and silver items are advised to ensure that the person
they are selling to is bona fide warn Warwickshire Trading Standards. This
follows a complaint from one resident who read an advert placed in a local newspaper
for unwanted silver items. The consumer took some of his silver positions which
the trader agreed to auction. However, the trader later disappeared claiming he
had ‘gone out of business’. The consumer received neither a payment for his
silver or the silver items back.
29/04/2013 Pressure Wash Warning
Warwickshire
consumer complained to Trading Standards after she paid a rogue trader £1500 to
pressure wash her roof and paint it. The rogue trader had door knocked and said
he was working in the local area. He caused £200 worth of damage to the roof
whilst carrying out the ‘work’ (pressure washing your roof can seriously damage
it) and then disappeared. He had used a false address. The 0800 telephone
number and a mobile number he gave he could not be contacted on.
Please feel free to cascade this information to whomever you feel appropriate
(including using the information in your newsletters/websites etc.).
If you have any information you wish to
provide to Warwickshire Trading Standards Service, either for our information,
or to appear in future email alerts, please email me.
For more information on scams, visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/scams
For more information on scams, visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/scams
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/warkstss
Simon Cripwell
Trading Standards Officer
Warwickshire Trading Standards Service
Communities
Warwickshire County Council
Old Budbrooke Road Warwick CV35 7DP
Tel: 01926 414039
Mob: 07771 975570
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/warkstss
My normal working days are Monday to Thursday
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