Yet again, we have received reports that rogue mattress sellers are back in the City. Residents in Walsgrave and Holbrooks had visits from separate sellers offering memory foam mattresses for sale. In one, the caller claimed that they had come out of an unidentified ‘show home’.

We have issued previous warnings about mattress sellers operating in the City as we are concerned with the way in which these mattresses are described, the methods used to sell them and the safety of the mattresses despite the fact that they may display a Fire Safety Label. This may not be genuine.

In the most recent incidents the sellers failed to provide any paperwork or written cancellation rights as required under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

Trading Standards advice to residents is not to purchase goods or services from cold callers.

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With the recent launch of the new Windows 10, Trading Standards is warning of a new email scam claiming to be from Microsoft with the subject line: "Windows 10 Free Update". 

The message is designed to replicate real emails coming from Microsoft, even down to using the same colour scheme.

The 'from' field features the email address ‘update@microsoft.com’ which although looks like an official address actually originates in Thailand.

It even goes as far as to include a disclaimer message and a section to say the email attachment has been scanned for viruses.

However, by clicking the attachment you will be greeted with a message from CTB-Locker which is known as ransomeware and encrypts the files on your computer and demands a ‘ransom’ be paid or risk losing the files forever.

Prevention Advice

• Never click or download unsolicited email attachments.
• Update your Antivirus software and operating systems regularly.
• Back up all your important files and store them off your network.
• Where a computer becomes infected, disconnect it from the network and seek professional assistance to clean the computer.

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A Westwood Ward resident received a very authentic looking email claiming to be from PayPal. It indicated that the resident's PayPal account had been locked and requested that they click on a link in order to log in and see a message.

PayPal confirm this is a scam ‘Phishing’ email which attempts to trick recipients into revealing personal or financial information such as bank details, passwords etc. The links take you to fake websites where any information input can be collected.

How to spot a ‘Phishing’ email:

• The email uses a generic greeting like ‘Dear user’ or ‘Hello, PayPal member.’ PayPal always address you by your first and last name or the business name on your PayPal account.
• The email requests financial and other personal information. PayPal would never ask for your bank account, debit or credit card number nor would they ask for your account password or the answers to PayPal security questions in an email.
• The email asks you to provide the tracking number of a dispatched item, before you've received the payment into your PayPal account.
• The email includes a software update to install on your computer.

Report PayPal Phishing emails to: spoof@paypal.co.uk and delete the fake email. If you have responded to a fraudulent email and believe your PayPal account has been compromised, report this to PayPal via: report the unauthorised access 

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A Keresley resident received a letter from a Mr Cai Xu, ‘Business Relations Manager’ at the China CITIC Bank in Hong Kong which claimed that a person sharing the same family name as the resident had died intestate leaving a vast investment worth $16.4million US dollars.

The letter said no next of kin could be traced meaning the money would go to the government but to avoid this the resident was told they could claim the inheritance if they agreed to split it with Mr Cai Xu.

The letter emphasised the need for speed and secrecy and not to tell anyone else about the deal but there is no inheritance and Mr Xu isn't a Business Manager, but is a fraudster.

Our advice - Do not respond to this or similar letters. If you do, the fraudster will ask for various fees to be paid such as taxes, legal fees, banking fees etc.They say they need these to release your non-existent inheritance.

If a payment is made, the fraudsters will come up with other reasons why the inheritance can’t be paid out unless a further fee is made.

By responding, your details may also be passed to other scammers meaning you will be subjected to even more scams letters and phone calls.

We are aware of many versions of this letter but they all tell the identical story but use different names for the person who is said to have died leaving a large fortune but no will.

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Kidde Safety Europe Ltd has identified a potential safety issue with regard to fire blankets sized one square metre, which may impact the fire blankets’ effectiveness in the event of an oil pan fire.

No reports of any adverse incidents have been received to date, however, testing of certain fire blankets identified a risk in that the affected fire blankets may not fully extinguish an oil pan fire and/or may allow the fire to re-ignite very soon after application of the fire blanket.

If you have one of the potentially affected fire blankets do not use it on any oil pan fire. Instead return it to the retailer it was purchased from and Kidde Safety Europe Ltd will arrange for a replacement fire blanket to be supplied.

The recall applies to fire blankets one square metre in size in containers labelled with the brand name ‘Kidde’ or ‘Lifesaver’ and are marked with the Kitemark symbol and Licence Number 35021. The label on the fire blanket refers to ‘Homesaver.

These details can be found on the fire blanket containers as shown in photographs.

The Kidde Safety helpline is 0800 917 0722. Email admin@kiddesafety.co.uk.

For further information see www.kiddesafetyeurope.co.uk.

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EE has identified a very small number of incidents where Power Bars have overheated, all of which relate to batch E1-06 (written as Model:E1-06 on the side of the device), and could pose a fire safety risk.

EE are therefore recalling batch E1-06 and request that customers stop using them and return their device to a local EE store at their earliest convenience.
Power Bars from any other batch aren't affected by this recall.

EE intends to replace the chargers once they have completed their investigations and will contact customers once these have been concluded.

EE Power Bars can be identified by a code found on the side of the device. For the recalled models this code will read 'E1-06' (see image). 

Customers should stop using Power Bars from batch E1-06, and unplug them from handsets and the mains. They should return the Power Bar to a local EE store at their earliest convenience.

Customers returning batch E1-06 will be issued with a replacement once EE investigations are concluded. The swap program has been temporarily suspended while EE complete this recall process and restock.

How do I know the other batches are safe?

EE not seen any issues of overheating with other batches and they meet all safety standards. Here is some general advice on use of portable chargers.

Find your local EE store here.

Returns process

1. If you have a Power Bar from batch E1-06, please stop charging and using it.
2. For anyone with a Power Bar from batch E1-06, please return it to your nearest EE store.
3. For those who are unable to get to an EE store, please call our information line on 0800 079 030.

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