@WAR - Warwickshire Trading Standards email alerts

Please feel free to cascade this information to whomever you feel appropriate (including using the information in your newsletters/websites etc.). 26/02/2016 Taking a stand against scams on National Safeguarding Day 2016 23/02/2016 Good citizen award scam 23/02/2016 Fraudsters set up bogus high specification websites 26/02/2016 Taking a stand against scams on National Safeguarding Day 2016 By Simon Cripwell on Feb 26, 2016 02:11 pm Warwickshire Trading Standards are taking a stand against scams on National Safeguarding Day 2016 Monday February 29th 2016. Read in browser » 23/02/2016 Good citizen award scam By Simon Cripwell on Feb 23, 2016 10:45 am Action Fraud has been receiving reports of an advanced fee fraud whereby suspects phone a member of the public and claim to be calling on behalf of the UK (or British) Government Grant Department. They go on to state that the individual has won a Good Citizen Award – of typically £8,000 – and that the grant can be released for a fee (of around £210). Fortunately, very few members of the public have lost any money as a result of this scam but have reported to Action Fraud in order to help build a picture of this fraud and protect others from falling victim to it. Protect yourself: There is no genuine ‘Good Citizen Award’ scheme in the UK that operates by cold calling “winners” and asking for an upfront fee to release a grant. If you receive a call that claims to represent such a scheme, it is a scam. End the phone call – do not give out any personal or financial data. Read in browser » 23/02/2016 Fraudsters set up bogus high specification websites By Simon Cripwell on Feb 23, 2016 10:42 am Fraudsters are reportedly setting up high specification websites advertising various electrical goods and domestic appliances. The goods are advertised at below market value and in reality do not exist. The website will state you can pay via card; however when the purchaser goes to pay, this option is not available and the payment must be made via bank transfer. The fraudster entices the purchaser and reassures them it is a legitimate purchase by using the widely recognised Trusted Shop Trustmark. They then use the Trustmark fraudulently and provide a link on the bogus electrical website to another bogus website (which purports to be Trusted Shops). This website shows a fake certificate purporting to be from Trusted Shops and provides thousands of reviews for the bogus electrical website. These reviews are all fraudulent. The website has not been certified by Trusted Shops and therefore the purchaser is not covered by the Trusted Shop money-back guarantee. Protect yourself: Check the authenticity of the website before making any purchases. Conduct a ‘Whois’ search on the website which will identify when the website has been created- Be wary of newly formed domains. You can conduct this search using this website Conduct on-line research in relation to the website, company name and the business address provided to identify any poor feedback or possible irregularities. Check the Trusted Shops Facebook page where warnings about websites using their Trustmark are published. If you are in doubt about the legitimacy of a Trustmark then you can contact Trusted Shops on 0203 364 5906 or by email service@trustedshops.co.uk. They will confirm whether they have certified that website. Payments made via bank transfer are not protected should you not receive the item. Therefore always try to make the payment via PayPal or a credit card where you have some payment cover should you not receive your product. If the item advertised seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Warning first published by Action Fraud Read in browser »   Recent Articles: 19/02/2016 Fraudster ‘harvesting’ signatures warning 19/02/2016 Convicted fraudster ordered to pay £350,000 17/02/2016 Dangerous mattress warning 16/02/2016 ‘GP’ mobility aids phone scam 10/02/2016 Like brushing your teeth with bleach!

Our mailing address is: Warwickshire County Council Shire Hall Warwick, Warwickshire CV34 4RL United Kingdom

@WAR - Compton Chronicle copy for March 2016

FENNY COMPTON NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

If you are concerned about the personal safety of a family member do have a look at this new smartphone app. Hollie Guard turns your smartphone into an advanced personal safety device at the touch of a button. If in danger simply shake your phone to generate an alert, your location, audio and video evidence of the incident will automatically be sent to your emergency contact via text and email. Shake it again and it sends out a high pitched alarm and the flash starts to strobe, in order to attract maximum attention.

Speeding in the village continues to cause concern. There is equipment and training available from NW and Warwickshire Police  if there are sufficient volunteers to cover occasional checks. Please note details of cars seen speeding  and submit to watch4sonad@gmail.com so that the details of persistent offenders can be passed on. Dangerous driving should be reported to the police as soon as possible on 101.

Smart Start in Warwickshire - Parents and carers of children from 0-5 can now complete a new online survey. By sharing  their views, they will get the chance to enter a Prize Draw to win one of three prizes:£100 multi-store shopping voucher and two £50 multi-store shopping vouchers. More details in The Stratford District NW Blog which is regularly updated. stratfordnw.blogspot.co.uk

Cybertip - If you have any questions about cybersecurity this is a good starting point getsafeonline.org

@WAR - Warwickshire Rural Crime Update

Inc 62 of 26/1/16

Some time between 1620 25/1/16 and 0800 26/1/16, a yellow 1.5 tonne JCB was stolen from a property in Atherstone.

 

Inc 57 of 28/1/16

Some time between 1630 27/1/16 and 0800 28/1/16, a metal selector grab for a JCB type machine was stolen from a property on London Road, Shipston on Stour.

 

Inc 87 of 31/1/16

An unsuccessful attempt to steal fuel was made at a business premises in Corley on 28/1/16.  

 

Inc 234 of 31/1/16

4 to 5 bales of shavings were stolen from a business premises at Bearley at approximately 1545 hrs on 31/1/16.

 

Inc 90 of 30/1/16

Some time between 2200 29/1/16 and 0730 30/1/16, a grey Land Rover Defender, registration BG5 9BND was stolen from Bentley, Near Atherstone.

 

If you saw anything or have any information that could help the police with their enquiries please call 101 and quote the incident number stated.

 

Many thanks for your assistance.

 

Regards

Carol Cotterill

Rural Crime Coordinator

North Warwickshire

 

Warwickshire Police is committed to catching more criminals.

Please visit http://www.warwickshire.police.uk/ for more force news and information.

View our new Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police websites at: www.warwickshire.police.uk and www.westmercia.police.uk

Make the difference

For more information about becoming a Special Constable,
please visit,

Warwickshire Police: www.warwickshire.police.uk/specialconstables
West Mercia Police: www.westmercia.police.uk/specialconstables

@SOA - New Web Wise Courses (Free)

Web Wise Project

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New courses starting.......

The Web Wise Project aims to help people over the age of fifty to get benefits from using the internet that younger people take for granted.  Eleven million people in the UK do not use the internet, yet often services and goods are most easily, and cheaply, available on line.  Older people, who do not use the internet, are increasingly at risk of being excluded from what are becoming “normal” life opportunities and activities.

Web Wise is provided by Age UK Warwickshire, in conjunction with Stratford District Citizen’s Advice Bureau.  We organise courses in local venues, like village halls and libraries, within Stratford District.  Each course lasts six weeks, with one two-hour lesson each week.  The project is funded by Comic Relief.  We also work in partnership with Orbit Housing, Heart of England.

Web Wise courses are free.

Our courses cover the basic functions of the internet, including the World Wide Web, email and Skype (video calling), banking, shopping, and searching for information.  There is a particular emphasis on helping learners to save money, and to manage finances more effectively, by using services on the internet.
You may bring you own laptop or tablet computers, or you can use one of ours.  John Sawyer, the Project Co-ordinator, leads the courses and, where possible, there will also be Web Wise volunteers, who can give one to one support.   We try to tailor the course to individual needs, and to this end each learner is invited to do a self-assessment prior to starting the course.

Our next courses are:

• Brailes Village Hall.  Tuesday mornings, starting on 2nd February; NOW FULL

• Blackwell Village Hall, Tuesday afternoons, starting on 9th February; NOW FULL

• Bishops Itchington Community Centre, Wednesday afternoons, starting on 10th February;NOW FULL

• Claverdon Church Centre, Thursday afternoons, starting 4th February.

• Lighthorne Heath Village Hall,  Monday afternoons, starting 8th February

• Southam Grange Hall, Monday afternoons, starting 4th April

• Studley Village Hall, Tuesday mornings, starting 29 March

If you would like to attend a course near you, contact:John Sawyer on 07881 812943, or emailjohn.sawyer@ageukwarks.org.uk or write to John Sawyer, Age UK Warwickshire, 8 Clemens Street, Leamington Spa, CV31 2DL

@WAR - Smart Start Survey for parents of 0-5s. Please share.

Help share our survey

We want to hear from parents (including expectant parents), carers and families with 0-5 year old children, as well as front line workers on how to improve outcomes for children in Warwickshire. Online survey Parents and carers can now complete our new online survey here. By telling us their views, they will get the chance to enter our Prize Draw to win one of three prizes:£100 multi-store shopping voucher and two £50 multi-store shopping vouchers. Please can you share this survey link with parents you work with through your social media pages, email or newsletter.  We want to know about what early years help parents, carers and families value, where they go to for support, and what support would have helped but has been missing for them (gaps and unmet needs).   Social media  We also have new Facebook and Twitter pages through which we will provide updates on the Smart Start programme and engagement activity. Please can you share the links below with parents and families of children aged 0-5 years that you engage with. Facebook Twitter Website Engagement with families From January to May 2016, Warwickshire CAVA (Community and Voluntary Action) will be working with the Smart Start Programme to talk to families across the county. Events and focus groups will be taking place over the next few months, to give parents and carers from across the county the chance to have their say. Click here for more information or visit our Facebook page   Engagement with professionals   Focus Groups and interviews with front line workers The Warwickshire Public Health Team are currently running a series of Smart Start focus groups and semi-structured interviews with maternity and early years front line staff from different service sectors across the county. This engagement exercise will continue up to March 2016. If you’re working with 0-5s families (including expectant parents) and are keen to share your views, you can join one of the Smart Start focus groups. If you’re unable to join a focus group, you can request a semi-structured interview by contacting smartstart@warwickshire.gov.uk.   What happens next?   Once we have gathered all views, they will be used to help decide on what support, services and activities are provided in Warwickshire in the future.  (Please note all information provided by parents and families will remain confidential and contact information will not be shared) For more information on the Smart Start programme visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/smartstart

Kind regards

 

Amanda Wilson-Patterson

Localities & Communities Officer

Communities 

Warwickshire County Council

 

Telephone:     01926 413642 (internal 3642)

Mobile:          07780 995817

Email:           amandawilsonpatterson@warwickshire.gov.uk

Website:        www.warwickshire.gov.uk/getinvolved                   

 

For further information on the Stratford-on-Avon Area Office visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/stratfordarea

@SOA - Free microchips limited offer before it becomes mandatory for all dogs

The Rural Crime Coordinator Lucy Lambert has teamed up with Lisa Parkes the Dog Warden to provide a series of exciting events across the District.

Come along to one of the venues and meet with us to discuss the importance of dog etiquette and how to report suspicious activity when you are out with your four legged friends.

From the 6th April the Law is changing and all dogs must be microchipped, to raise awareness around this we will be microchipping 20 dogs at each venue for free. If you are interested in the microchipping then you will need to book an appointment in advance by calling 01789 267 575. This is offered on a first come first served basis, any subsequent appointments will then be charged at £5 + VAT per dog.

If you would like to meet with the Rural Crime Coordinator and your local Safer Neighbourhood Team to discuss any concerns you have then do just drop in.

2nd Feb 1030-1330 Stratford Police Station (no parking available at this venue)

3rd Feb 1030-1330 Sheldon Bosley Hub Shipston

8th Feb 1030-1330 Graham Adams Centre Southam

10th Feb 1030-1330 Memorial Hall Welford

16th Feb 1030-1330 Crawford Memorial Hall Bidford

17th Feb 1030-1330 Methodist Church Wellesbourne

19th Feb 1030-1330 St Andrews Centre Shottery

23rd Feb 1030-1330 Jubilee Centre Alcester

More about 

Rural Crime