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
Just scroll down for the latest NW news from around the District, County and further afield
Sunday, 29 December 2013
@NAT - Public WIFI - Securing your life online
Advice from the identity theft experts:
The lowdown on public WIFI
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
Friday, 27 December 2013
@NAT - HSBC's advice on preventing online fraud
Online fraud is one of crime's growth areas.
CLICK FOR ADVICE from this high street bank on staying safe.
CLICK FOR ADVICE from this high street bank on staying safe.
Friday, 6 December 2013
@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.
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 - 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
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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