Sunday 29 December 2013

@NAT - Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network (England and Wales) Newsletters

Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network’s national e-newsletter - December 2013
Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network’s national e-newsletter - November 2013
Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network (England and Wales) - October 2013

@NAT - Public WIFI - Securing your life online

Advice from the identity theft experts: 


The lowdown on public WIFI
A recent study conducted by Experian Consumer Services revealed the following facts about our Public WIFI use in the UK.
  • Half of Britons who use public WIFI, don't know whether it's secure

  • One in ten use public WIFI for online banking

  • 36% of WIFI hotspots checked in London were completely unsecure
While these statistics are quite shocking, there's no need to panic with our great tips on staying safe online...

  • Where possible, save important tasks like online banking until you are at home on a secure network

  • Turn off automatic connection on your devices

  • Check for the padlock icon at the left of the address bar or for 'https' in the URL which are signs that the site is secure

  • Consider getting a personal VPN which can protect your data as it travels over open WIFI connections

@WAR - Identity Fraud and tips on avoidance from Warwickshire Police

LINK

@NAT - The Crime Prevention Website, Newsletter Nos 8 & 9

Newsletter Number 8

Newsletter Number 9

@NAT - Flood Updates

FLOOD INFO

Friday 27 December 2013

Friday 6 December 2013

@NAT - Cybercrime Christmas Menu




Why not checkout the rest of the menu HERE

@WAR - 5 Thefts of Landrover Defenders in Warwickshire


Please feel free to share both the information on Cyber Safety (attached) and the alert below on thefts of Landrover Defender vehicles with your neighbours, friends, family and general community.
Please be aware that we have identified a trend of Landrover Defenders being stolen, so far mainly in the south of the county.

Since 1 October 2013, 5 vehicles have been stolen, without keys, from outside homes in Studley, Lapworth, Wellesbourne and Stratford with mainly older models being targetted.

Thieves appear to be able to bypass the security and ignition systems to enter and drive away the vehicles and, we are asking owners to take simple additional precautions to protect their property.

If you have a garage, please store your vehicle in it whenever possible.

Use a steering lock overnight or when leaving the vehicle unattended.

Consider fitting a Tracker system


Please spread this message to friends and relatives who own Landrover vehicles.  Finally, please be actively on the lookout for suspicious persons or activity around Landrover Defender vehicles and report anything that you consider to be of concern, to Police, on 101.


Thank you.
Julie Dale
Warwickshire Police

@WAR - Scams you may have missed


One document from Trading Standards with all the warnings since Feb 2013.

Latest Email Alerts (pdf, 435 Kb)

More information and advice from Warwickshire Direct:

Rogue traders and scams

Wednesday 4 December 2013

@WAR - Superfast Broadband - Latest Update

@WAR - Advent Scams from Trading Standards

03/12/2013 BT Scam
BT customers are warned to beware of bogus emails that state ‘This e-mail has been sent to you by BT Internet to inform you that we were unable to process your most recent payment of bill.’ The phishing email asks the recipient to flow a link in the email to update their billing information! Never respond to bogus emails or click on the links they contain. If you think the email is genuine, contact the business via its website.

03/12/2013 Doors to Door Mattress sellers
Warwickshire Trading Standards has received reports that mattress sellers are selling these products door to door in the Rugby and Wellesbourne areas. Consumers reported the items being sold from a large white van.

These sales are often an indication that the mattresses are cheap imports that do not meet fire resistance standards. It's a criminal offence for a furniture supplier not to meet the safety standards. Always buy upholstered furniture from bona fide suppliers you know and trust.

03/12/2013 Road Planing Warning
Householders and businesses are warned ot beware of rogue traders offering plane driveways (skim then with tarmac). One consumer was offered a price of £0.95 per square foot, but on completion the trade demanded an inflated price of £2750. Never buy services from people offering tarmac a surfacing work door to door.

03/12/2013 ‘Google’ Advertising Con
Businesses are warned to beware of cold callers claiming to be able to promote their businesses website to the top of any google search/offer tope three search google ad. One caller took £118 from a local trader but appeared to do no work at all.

03/12/2012 ‘Moneymaking’ Scheme
A Warwickshire consumer reported to Trading Standards registering for a ‘money making scheme’ on a traders website. The resident then received a phone call from the trader who asked for bank details, claiming that no funds would be payable until ‘registration’ was complete. However, having done so almost £1300 was immediately taken from the resident’s bank account. The ‘scheme’ was a scam!

03/12/2013 Postal Cash Winner
A consumer reported to Trading Standards receiving two identical letters claiming she had won a £20,000 prize. You can’t win a competition you have not entered!

03/12/2013 Call Blocking Scam
More Warwickshire consumers are complaining to Warwickshire Trading standards that they have received calls that would appear to be from outside the UK offering call blocking services. The callers claim to be able to block nuisance calls for a fee. In reality they usually do nothing or at best register the consumer with the Telephone Preference Service, a free service.

03/12/2013 PPI Scam
A consumer was cold called and told he was entitled to £3200 compensation for miss-sold PPI, if the consumer first paid £320 in UKash vouchers. No consumer should have to pay anything to claim PPI. In addition, a request for an upfront payment in UKash vouchers is a clear sign that this is a scam.

03/12/2013 Money Laundering Warning
A Warwickshire resident, who posted their CV on a UK based job website received an unusual email from a South African company offering him a salary of £27,600 + 8% commission on each transaction. In return the job hunter was asked to transfer and receive funds using their own bank account. This is in fact money laundering where the job seeker is employed to transfer criminal assets, a criminal offence.

03/12/2013 Small Ads Scam
A Warwickshire consumer agreed to purchase a television from a private seller through a local advertisement. The seller advised the consumer that they would deliver the television if the consumer would cover the cost of delivery. The consumer agreed and the seller asked for £30 to be paid in advance using untraceable UKash vouchers to the courier. They were then asked for a further £50 for ‘insurance’ and £20 for ‘change of deeds’, this time directly by the courier. The consumer paid out a total of £80 but did not receive the television. The consumer has no contact details for either the seller or the courier. Trading Standards believe that the courier and the seller may have been the same person and that the consumer is a victim of advanced fee fraud.

03/12/2013 Loan Scam
A consumer reported to Warwickshire Trading Standards being the victim of a loan scam. The consumer applied for a loan online which was approved but before the consumer could receive the funds the rogue trader requested a ‘refundable’ insurance payment of £129 and a further £175 to ‘release’ the funds. The consumer waited but did not receive the loan. The rogue trader then contacted him again requesting a further £195 due to a ‘software’ issue. This last request was not paid.

03/12/2013 OFT Scam
A Warwickshire resident reported to Trading Standards receiving a bogus phone call from someone pretending to be from the OFT (Office of Fair Trading). The call lasted for five minutes and the caller stated that the consumer was entitled to £4,500 as she was a ‘good citizen’. The caller provided a phone number for the resident to dial to claim her money!
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

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