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Alerts for scams, bogus callers etc

Recent Scams

‘Neighbourhood Watch Support’

A resident in South London has reported a possible scam taking place in his locality. A man claiming to represent ‘Neighbourhood Watch Support’ telephoned to say that a Neighbourhood Watch brochure was going out to all the local residents. The caller was encouraging local businesses to advertise in this brochure. The resident agreed to place an advertisement and later received a further phone call from a company calling itself ‘Business Community Support Multimedia’. The caller took some details over the phone. At a later date the resident received a letter with a ‘proof’ for the advertisement. Apart from the name of the business and the contact phone number, every detail was incorrect. The accompanying letter said that unless any amendments were received within five days (by phone, email or fax) they would assume that the details were correct and place the advert. The resident tried several times to contact the company by email and phone but to no avail, finding his emails unanswered and his phone calls cut off. Luckily he had not yet paid any money for the advertisement.

We would like to make it clear that there is no such organisation as ‘Neighbourhood Watch Support’ and the Neighbourhood & Home Watch Network does not produce any such local brochures nor contract Business Community Support Multimedia to do so.

If you have any concerns, questions or issues you would like to raise relating to this, please contact us on enquiries@nationalnhw.org or 0116 229 3118 and do not agree to anything over the telephone or on your doorstep.

Telephone Publishing Scam

On both the 12th & 13th July 2010 a farm house at Brinklow near Rugby was contacted by telephone the male caller stated he was calling on behalf of the local PCSO and Farm Watch and asked for a financial contribution to a magazine they were publishing. Upon declining the offer the phone was slammed down. It is believed the first call was made from a call centre. Warwickshire Police do not sell advertising space by cold calling people, and such calls should be treated with extreme caution.

Any information concerning this please ring 01926 415000 quoting incident 96 13/7/2010

Distraction Burglary Awareness Campaign 2010

There was an attempted Distraction Burglary at home in Starbold Road, Bishops Itchington
on 1st June - INC 224

Please can we make you aware that at just before 2.30pm on 1 June a male called at the home of an elderly resident in Starbold Road, Bishops Itchington purporting to be a Police Officer. The offender showed the resident a form of identification and then the resident became suspicious and slammed the door. The offender then attempted to enter the house via a rear window but failed to get in.

The male is described as white, aged around 30. He was not wearing a uniform and had a medium build and short fair hair.

Please remain alert, on the lookout for suspicious persons or activity around the homes of elderly neighbours. Please report anything that you consider to be out of the ordinary or of concern to the police - 01926 684385 Fax - 01926 684384 Email watch@warwickshire.police.uk

Operation Liberal has been looking at ways to help all police forces in the fight against distraction burglary crime whilst also raising public awareness of this despicable crime type through a Distraction Burglary Public Awareness Poster Campaign to be made available to every police force in the UK. Each of the 4 posters carries a very positive message and depicts an elderly person who "kept out" distraction burglars with 4 different M.O.'s - Water - Energy Supplier - Police Officer - Lost Ball in Garden.

This campaign is to be launched with media on 4th March 2010 at Derbyshire Police HQ by which time every East Midlands Regional police force will have distributed the posters under the East Midlands Op STORYBOARD distraction burglary campaign .

If anyone has information about a bogus caller or has received a phishing email you can report it back to Trading Standards via lisastirling@warwickshire.gov.uk who will initiate an investigation.

Friday 7th August 2009

Cold Callers and Alarm Fitters

At 1015 on Friday 31st July 2009 one of our NHW co-ordinators took a telephone call from a woman calling herself Jackie and wanting to talk to the home owner. She at first asked for Mrs Turner, so her directory information must be at least six years out of date and she was evasive about who was calling, just repeating the name Jackie. On my asking for the third time who she was, where from and what the call was about she said she was from Crimewatch Services and wanted talk about crime prevention. She tried to ask questions about the house but stopped and rang off the moment I mentioned the Neighbourhood Watch.
Beware of who you give out information to. If you need crime prevention advice speak to one of the police crime prevention officers by ringing 01926 415000.

Beware of a company called Direct Response Home Security. A man rang up a Fenny Compton resident and made his opening sales pitch, catching her off guard and offering to send a security consultant to advise about what they could do for her. He was very insistent and finally made an appointment for 11am for a man called Barry.
Barry arrived on time, was clean and presentable, but not smart. He then applied the hard sell, maintaining that his company’s alarm systems are the only ones in the country to which the Police will respond (false) and that they won’t come out for any others or even for neighbour’s telephone calls. This raised the ladys suspicions.
He explained that his company’s system was a comprehensive system that detected movement in the house by heat signature and that it was not subject to interference by spiders or other insects crawling over the sensors. On being asked if this meant any movement in the house would set it off he said yes and on being told that cats and dogs have free range all over the house he spluttered for a moment and then said ’well that can be programmed out’ and moved swiftly on to ask if he could look round the house.
He then said that once he had had a look around he would send in a team who would do a detailed assessment of what was required and install the necessary equipment. This further raised her suspicions.
The discussion did not get as far as money as the resident said she would consult her son when she saw him later. At this Barry insisted that he needed her decision there and then. She said she never decided things like this without consulting her son and Barry pushed for him to be called at once. He was eventually told that the son could come round at 13.00 but Barry said he couldn’t come back then and really needed the decision right away. When asked why this was he said it was just how he was required to operate.
The lady said she would keep the leaflets he had shown her to discuss them with her son but he said this was not allowed. She made it plain to him that she intended to keep the papers and he supposedly telephoned his boss and got his permission for her to do this. Very reluctantly he handed them over. He then left looking unhappy and saying his office would be in touch. So far nobody has been in touch.
You can see how this company operate. If they are legit their methods are unethical. Even with flashy brochures and a website this could still be a scouting scam. The brochure Barry left does not show any company registration number, address details or VAT registration that would be normal on company literature.
It may be coincidental that this company has contacted this resident at this time or it may be connected to the first incident. We have no way of knowing. What is certain is that this company are using strong arm sales methods and are willing to disclose very little real information about themselves. They appear to be preying on the vulnerable

Monday 20th July 2009

Consumer Alerts

BOGUS EMPLOYMENT EMAIL
The Trading Standards Service is warning people to be alert to an email scam offering employment as a Mystery Shopper. The email recipient is asked to complete personal details and email to Gertrude@msshop- uk.com. It is likely that they will then be asked to send money to the company before a 'contract' is signed, similar to homeworking scams.
The email is from a GERTRUDE HILTON - the email text is shown below.

• Thank you for your interest in the Mystery Shopper position.
  Our company conducts surveys and evaluates other companies in order to help them achieve their performance goals.
  We offer an integrated suite of business solutions that enables corporations to achieve tangible results in the marketplace.
• We get hired by other companies and act like customers to find out how they are handling their services in relation to their customers.
  Mystery Shopping is the most accurate and reliable tool a business can use to gather information regarding their actual customer service performance at the moment of truth.
  This moment of truth is not when the staff is on their best behaviour because the boss is around - it is when they interact with customers during their normal daily routines.
• This is where you, the Mystery Shopper, come in.
  You pose as an ordinary customer and provide feedback of both factual observations (ex...the floor was free of debris)
  and your own opinions (ex...I felt that the temperature in the establishment was too cold).
• Mystery Shoppers must remain anonymous. You must act as a regular customer and be careful not to do anything that would reveal you as a shopper.
  An inexperienced shopper could tip off the staff to his/her identity by asking for the manager's name for no clear or appropriate reason.
  If you are going to be bringing someone with you on the shop, make sure you educate them about the process as well.
  Beware that even whispers can be overheard by employees. If anyone notices you are a shopper, you can bet that word will quickly spread around the establishment and you will get some of the best customer service in town.
• No company can afford to have a gap between the promise of quality and its actual delivery, that's why leading corporations look to us,
  the nation's premiere mystery shopping and customer experience measurement company.
• In order for a business to effectively compete in today's economy, they must be prepared to meet the challenge of increasing sales by:
  * Retaining existing customers
  * Acquiring new customers
  * Creating word-of-mouth advocacy
  * Improving customer loyalty
• Once we have a contract to do so, you would be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given the funds you need to do the job (either purchase merchandise or require services), after which you would write a detailed report of your experience.
• Examples of details you would forward to us are:
  1) How long does it take to get served.
  2) Politeness of the attendant.
  3) Customer service professionalism.
  4) Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant, to see how they deal with difficult clients.
• Then we turn the information over to the company executives and they will carry out their own duties in improving their services.
  Most companies employ our assistance when people complain about their services, or when they feel there is a need for them to improve upon their customer service.
  Our company partners with you to implement proven mystery shop auditing and surveying strategies that provide critical information about customer experiences.
• You will be paid a commission of $100 for every duty you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance.
  Your task will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of restaurants, retail stores, casinos, shopping malls, banks and hotels in your area.
• Qualities of a good Mystery Shopper:
  * Is 21 years of age or older
  * Loves to go shopping
  * Is fair and objective
  * Is ON TIME
  * Is very observant and able to focus on details
  * Is fairly intelligent
  * Has patience
  * Is detail oriented
  * Is practical
  * Types well
  * Is trustworthy
  * Explains well in writing
  * Is discreet
  * Loves to learn
  * Handles deadlines
  * Has full internet access (at home or at work)
• Mystery Shopping is fun and exciting but also must be approached very seriously and is definitely not for everyone.
• If you are interested in applying for consideration as a Mystery Shopper do send in your information: Gertrude@msshop- uk.com
  Full Name:
  Address:
  City:
  State:
  Zip Code:
  Phone Number:
  Age:
  Occupation:
• As soon as we receive your information we will add you to our database and we will look for locations in your area that needs to be evaluated.
• The possition is only available for United States and United Kingdom.
  Thank you,
  Michael McDowell

STUDENT ACCOMMODATION SCAM
The Trading Standards Service are warning people to be wary if they are advertising on the internet for lodgers for student houses/flats. Replies to adverts are made by email, often by a person calling themselves 'Susan'. They say they will make the first rental payment by cheque and it will be an overpayment. You will be asked to forward the additional funds, usually by western union money transfer, to a third party, keeping a small commission for yourself. This is a Fund transfer scheme, a money–laundering scam that tempts you to use your bank account by offering a commission, or leaving you out of pocket when the cheque doesn't clear and you've already transferred funds! Sample text from a scam email, note the poor use of English and poor grammar.

• Issue out Cheque to you,also i want to alert you that my personal assistant will issue out an over payment cheque to you, After you might have gotten the Cheque, you will have to take it to your bank and have it deposited into your account for clearance and get back to me with the clearing date, and have the excess funds Sent to my Daughter Through her travelling Agent vai western union money transfer same day the Cheque clears your bank,the cheque was surposed to be in the travelling Agent name but he travelled to asia for a course ok. and you will have to deduct your money for the rent which is(£400,being payment for a month rent as advance payment.) and also keep £80 for your runing around and the excess funds goes to her nececssary up keeping before coming over for her studies.She will be coming down to your end as soon as payment is duly paid and the travelling agents recieves her money to enable her obtain her tickets and some other things ok.

6th July 2009

Business Alerts

Trading Standards is warning Farmers to be on their guard from bogus telephone calls from the police. A farmer received a call from someone purporting to be a PCSO trying to raise money to run a "youth event". The farmer was asked for £150 donation. When challenged the caller rang off.

Advice on dealing with unexpected callers

Don’t provide any personal or financial information to callers you don’t know and trust.
Challenge caller’s claims – ask for their name and their company name and if you wish to speak to them, phone them back via a publicly listed telephone number. If you don’t wish to speak to them, put the phone down. To reduce the number of unwanted telephone sales calls you receive register with the Telephone Preference Service on 0845 070 0707.
If the caller is persistent, seek advice from your phone provider (e.g. BT).
If you are receiving abusive, threatening or obscene calls, malicious or otherwise distressing to you, then report them to the police.