20130716 Bogus Callers Stratford
Warwickshire Trading Standards is
warning householders in the Stratford area to beware of unexpected doorstep
visits from people claiming to be from the ‘Council’.
A man and a woman approached the home
of an elderly resident claiming to be from/work for the ‘council’, saying they
were calling to ‘help’ residents with their disabilities. The callers did not
offer or provide any identification and did not give their names. The resident declined
their offer.
Trading Standards believe this was
probably either some sort of distraction burglary attempt or an attempt by an unscrupulous
disability aids firm to try and sell their wares door to door by pretending to represent
a council official.
Do not buy goods or services from
doorstep sellers. Report suspicious callers to the Police or to Trading Standards
Service.
12/07/2013 Intrusive ‘Warwickshire’ Survey
Warwickshire Trading Standards Service
has received a number of complaints from consumers who received unexpected
phone calls from someone claiming to be calling on behalf of Warwickshire
County Council or District Council.
The caller has been trying to ask personal
questions (including height and weight) and shopping habits etc. Trading
Standards are unaware of any local council surveying residents in this way and
suspect this is more likely to be an unscrupulous marketing company collecting
data which they can then sell. Personal data is very valuable and has a high
value to businesses wanting to send junk mail etc.
Never give any personal or financial information
to anyone who calls you unexpectedly.
12/07/2013 ‘Safety’ Hard Sell
Warwickshire residents are warned to
beware of cold callers offering ‘safety’ equipment after Trading Standards
received a complaint from a 90 year old South Warwickshire resident. The caller
had used hard sell tactics to try and encourage the resident to agree to a
visit from a sales rep.
12/07/2013 Rogue Trader Doorstep Warnings
Warwickshire Trading Standards has
received a number of complaints about rogue door to door traders:
Nuneaton: A resident reported paying £3750 in
cash to have her driveway jet washed and some pointing done, (very poorly). The
rogue traders left a large amount of rubble on her property and took her to the
bank to withdraw the money.
Whitnash: Beware of rogue traders operating door
to door in the Whitnash area offering to ‘steam clean’ driveways.
Kineton: Rogue traders are operating door to
door in the Kineton area. One resident was quoted £1900 to clean his driveway!
The rogue traders drove a white van and were extremely persistent.
Rogue Trader Advice from Warwickshire Trading Standards
Recent scams reported to Warwickshire Trading Standards Service
02/07/2013 Local Businesses Warned of ‘Fire Safety’ Checks
Warwickshire Trading Standards are
warning local businesses to beware of unexpected visits from people claiming to
be carrying out ‘official’ or ‘statutory’ fire safety checks or falsely
claiming they have on-going service contracts. Several Warwickshire businesses
have complained about these tactics, employed by unscrupulous traders seeking
to sell fire safety equipment, fire and burglar alarms and first aid kits. For genuine
and unbiased fire safety advice visit: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/businessfiresafety
02/07/2013 Phone Call Holiday Scam Warning
A Spanish based rogue timeshare
company is phoning Warwickshire consumers claiming they have been specially ‘picked’
and offered a ‘cut-price’ holiday. One very elderly resident was offered a two
week luxury villa holiday and two weeks on a cruise for £650 following an unexpected
phone call. The resident paid but then found the Spanish trader was making it impossible
to book by claiming the individual was ‘too old’ or did not have enough money.
In reality, these ‘free’ or ‘cheap’
holiday offers are only made to get people to attend timeshare presentations
abroad. But these rogue businesses only wish to attract people who are young
enough that once they are pressured in to buying a timeshare will be paying for
it for many years! More information in timeshare and holiday clubs visit: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandardsleaflets
02/07/2013 ‘Cash’ Offers!
A Nuneaton resident reported to Warwickshire
Trading Standards receiving an unexpected phone call from someone who offered
the resident £2139 if they first purchased £500 worth of vouchers! This may
either have been a straight forward scam or someone offering money off
vouchers. In a similar case a Binley Woods resident
was called unexpectedly and offered a £20 petrol voucher. The resident had to
pay £1 postage and was asked for their card details!
Never give out your debit or credit card
details to unexpected callers, either on the phone or at the door!
02/07/2013
Finance ‘Overpayment’ Scam
A Warwick consumer contacted the Trading Standards
Service after he had received a phone call from someone claiming he had ‘overpaid’
on a finance agreement. The consumer did not even have a finance agreement!
These are scam calls from call centres looking for people who may be owed
compensation for PPI. Remember, you do not need to pay a claims management
company to obtain compensation you may be owed!
02/07/2013 Bogus Police Calls
A Kenilworth
resident received an unexpected phone call from someone falsely claiming to be
from Warwickshire Police, asking him to contribute to a road traffic incident.
When the resident queried the caller, the caller was very abusive!
02/07/2013 Scam PPI Claimback
A Bagington resident
contacted Warwickshire Trading Standards after receiving a phone call from some
who claimed the resident would receive £2300 in PPI compensation, if they first
paid £540 up front in vouchers!
02/07/2013 Be Careful With Your
Pension!
Unscrupulous
traders are cold calling Warwickshire residents offering to ‘sort out’ their
pensions. One Leamington Spa resident reported being told that if he put all his
pension in to one pot he would receive £1000 as a ‘reward’. Be extremely careful
before you consider moving your pension. Take appropriate financial advice.
Never accept goods or services from unexpected callers!
02/07/2013 iTunes and Tesco Phishing
Scams
A consumer
reported to Warwickshire Trading Standards receiving an unusual email falsely purporting
to be from ITunes and claiming that the recipient’s ITunes account had been
frozen. The phishing email asked that the recipient log in to his account by
following a link in the email.
A similar
email that is also being received by Warwickshire consumers claims they have been
successfully chosen to receive £500 of Tesco vouchers. Again they are asked to
follow a link in the email to provide their personal information before
receiving their bogus reward.
Never follow links
in suspicious emails or provide personal or financial information via them. Phishing
emails are designed to steal your money and enable computer viruses to access
your PC. Delete them instead!
02/07/2013
Door to Door Gold and Jewellery Buyers
Warwickshire Trading Standards is warning consumers
to be wary of unexpected calls from door to door gold and jewellery buyers
after complaints from Bedworth residents. Trading Standards Officers believe that
some may be linked to door to door rogue traders.
Never
accept offers to buy your gold or jewellery
from the first person who comes to your door. If you have items to sell,
get a range
of offers from high street buyers. Don't sell to unxpected callers, you
might get a very poor and uncompetitive price for your items!
02/07/2013
Home Insulation Warning
Atherstone residents reported to Warwickshire Trading
Standards receiving unexpected doorstep visits from traders offering home insulation.
The residents were told that the traders had been sent by the council and were
offering ‘free’ or ‘grant paid’ insulation. This was untrue. One resident who
signed up and later cancelled also found she had unwittingly agreed to change her energy supplier at the same time!
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.
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
My normal working days are Monday to Thursday
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