LCC - Trading Standard Scam News
Added at 21:52 on 22 July 2024
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Summer 2024 Welcome…. to the latest edition of the Leicestershire Trading Standards Service scams newsletter. Here you will find details of the latest scams and information about how to protect yourself and report a scam. Lifeline Scams Trading Standards are warning telecare customers to be aware of fraudsters taking advantage of the digital switchover, as it seems that they are trying to take advantage by tricking vulnerable residents into giving out personal information, and even their bank details. Between now and 2025 telephone providers will be moving their customers from old analogue landlines over to new upgraded landline services using digital technology. This means services that rely on the old landline system such as home phones and healthcare devices will need to be switched over. The digital switchover is free of charge and residents should be aware that councils and their home care alarm providers or contractors will never ask for personal or financial information over the telephone.
Charnwood Lifeline is in the process of updating their equipment to a digital system, however they will never call you to ask you to disclose your bank details. If you receive a call of this nature, do not disclose your bank details or any personal information. We would also encourage you to make your family aware if you a receive one of these calls.
Don’t assume a call is genuine if the cold caller already knows your name and address, and to further gain your trust, they may say they're a local health worker, from the Council or a lifeline provider. Other tactics fraudsters could use is to claim you're eligible for a free pendant alarm, or that you need an upgrade of your equipment, asking for card details to cover the ongoing subscription costs or a one-off installation fee. This could be to gain money, or get people stuck into a subscription trap.
If you have any concerns as a Charnwood Lifeline customer, please feel free to call their office on 01509 643970. Please be vigilant to these sorts of scams, and please report any concerns you may have to the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 Action Fraud Campaign Action Fraud urges the public to continue reporting phishing emails. Over 32 million phishing emails have been reported to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS), which has led to more than 329,000 websites addresses being removed by the National Cyber Security Centre.
Together with emails, there has also been a huge number of text messages reported to 7726, which led to more than 60,000 malicious websites being removed from the internet. This is a free service, offered by mobile network providers, allowing customers to forward suspicious text messages.
What is phishing? 'Phishing', or ‘smishing’ is when criminals use scam emails, text messages, or phone calls to trick victims. It could be an email asking you to “verify” your bank account details, or a text message claiming you’ve missed a delivery and are required to pay a redelivery fee; the goal is to trick you into revealing personal and financial information. For example, victims have lost more than £150 each to a fake email claiming to be from TV Licensing. The email claimed that they needed to renew her TV licence as soon as possible. What made the phishing email so believable was that the victim’s TV licence had recently expired and the link in the scam email led to a fake TV Licensing website that replicated the real one. How can you protect yourself? Fake emails and text messages are becoming more difficult to spot as criminals are constantly creating genuine-looking messages. Here is some practical advice that you can follow when it comes to dealing with phishing, and protect yourself from fraudsters:
Caller at the door? Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards have seen a rise in complaints about rogue traders knocking on doors and offering to carry out home improvement works such as roofing, driveways or gardening work. Reports highlight that rogue traders are pushing consumers to have unnecessary works done, through using scare mongering tactics by saying things such as, roof tiles are coming loose and you could have a leak, or loose tree branches could fall on someone. Then they may claim there are further issues such as rotting in the roof, increasing the amount for the cost of the works and very little being done by the traders, if at all.
It is important that Leicestershire residents follow this advice:
Family, friends, and neighbours play an important role in looking out and keeping each other safe, particularly those who are more vulnerable. Rogue traders target vulnerable consumers, and Trading Standards are urging family members and neighbours to help by watching out for signs and prevent their loved ones becoming a victim, by ensuring they are aware of the above advice. Leicestershire Trading Standards provides information, support, and intervention to residents to enable you to keep safe from fraud, scams and doorstep crime. We have produced this advice card on how to protect yourself from cold calling as a reminder of the Do’s and Don’ts, so you don’t get caught out. Whether you receive telephone calls, emails or even a cold caller at the door, you can keep this handy card by the front door. The advice cards would be useful for those who may live alone and be particularly vulnerable to cold callers. If you, a family member, friend or neighbour could benefit from having one of these advice cards, you can get in touch to obtain one by calling 0116 305 8000, or email tradingstandards@leics.gov.uk. Events
It was a pleasure to share a space with Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland and provide scams and doorstep crime prevention advice to residents, as well as network with colleagues in attendance from partner organisations.
If you would like Trading Standards to attend your event or to request a scams awareness session, please email: tradingstandards@leics.gov.uk Holiday booking scams Have you spotted a last-minute holiday deal online? Does the travel company only accept payment by bank transfer? Be careful – this could be a scam. Fraudsters are creating fake adverts and emails to scam holidaymakers. They often impersonate travel companies to trick people into visiting a bogus website. These websites can look very convincing, and some may even be clones of real travel companies. Fraudsters may ask you to pay for your holiday by bank transfer, but this makes it much harder for you to get your money back.
Holiday cancellations
You may also get a call from a ‘refund agent’. These fraudsters may promise a quick refund if you hand over your bank details, sometimes asking for upfront payments disguised as fees. How to stay safe
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Finally…. If you would like to report a scam, or you have been a victim fraud, you can get in touch with the following organisations: Action Fraud – https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline - 0808 223 1133 If you think fraudsters may have obtained your money, contact you bank immediately using the contact details on the back of your card. To keep up to date with the latest scams information and advice, you can follow the Leicestershire Trading Standards Service Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/leicstradingstandards |
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Leicestershire Trading Standards Service Tel: 0116 305 8000 Email: tradingstandards@leics.gov.uk
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