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In this issue:
 Two local
residents from Styvechale and Wyken have reported receiving phone calls from
someone saying they have been awarded a ‘government grant’ to help with utility
bills, one for £1,000 and the other for £8,000.
They were
both given an ‘activation’ code number and a telephone number to call to claim
the grant.
Had the
residents called the number it is highly likely they would have been asked to
make some kind of payment to cover administration or release fees via a money
transfer service.
They may
also have been asked for bank account details so that the ‘grant’ could be paid
directly into their accounts.
This is a
well-known scam called Advanced Fee Fraud where fraudsters ask their potential
victims to make advance or upfront payments for goods, services and/or
financial gains that do not materialise. If personal and financial information
is disclosed, there is a chance that this could be used by the scammers to
commit identity theft.
Resident
are reminded not to pass on personal or financial details to such callers but
if you believe you may have already done so, contact your bank immediately to
stop or check any unauthorised transactions.
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 Crimestoppers, the charity who people can call to
report crimes anonymously have discovered that a group of scammers are falsely
using their 0800 555 111 number on telephone displays in a bid to make calls
seem genuine. The scammers are calling people, saying they are “Crimestoppers
at the Home Office” then asking for personal details.
Crimestoppers have issued the following statement:
- They are
not calling people
- They do
not and cannot call people from 0800 555 111
- They would
never ask for personal details like this
Their
advice to anyone who gets a call claiming to be from Crimestoppers is:
- Never give out your personal information
- Report the incident
to Action Fraud
Better
Media Solutions scam
Crimestoppers are also been made
aware of the Better Media Solutions scam involving a phone call from someone claiming
to be from this company saying they are selling advertising space in a Crime
Prevention Booklet that Crimestoppers support. After sending you a
"mock-up" of the booklet, they also send you an invoice asking for
£595.
The truth about this scam:
- Crimestoppers
do not work with a company called Better Media Solutions
- Crimestoppers
do not support or endorse their booklet
- Any use
of Crimestoppers imagery in this booklet is unauthorised
Crimestoppers advice to anyone
who gets a call claiming to be from Better Media Solutions:
- Hang up - don't engage in a sales conversation
- Report the incident
to Action Fraud
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 We first warned against this scam in June 2014 but in
the last couple of weeks, 3 local
residents have received a letter claiming to be from the Postcode Lottery
saying they had won £825,000. However, to claim
their ‘prize’ recipients are asked to contact the Foreign Service Manager of
‘UK Security Solution’, and there is a clearance fee to be paid – amount
unspecified.
This
is a clear Scam and if you send any money you will get
nothing in return; and if you send one payment, they will contact you again and
try to con you out of even more.
Protect yourself and ask yourself how could you win a lottery if
you haven't bought a ticket? Never reveal credit card or bank account details
unless you're sure who you're dealing with.
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A
resident in the Westwood Heath area has alerted us to fraudsters using the name
of a well-known company to commit their crimes as it makes their communication
seem more legitimate.
A
caller claiming to be from ‘TalkTalk’ said there had been an attempt to hack into
the resident’s computer link and also advised that the resident had an
incorrect router and arrangements would be made to fit a new one the next day.
For the inconvenience, the resident was offered £200 in compensation which was
to be paid immediately into their bank account by bank transfer.
Within
an hour, the caller called back saying that in error, £2000 had been deposited
instead of £200 which would now need to be paid back into a Western Union
account.
The resident realised that this account was based in Thailand, but this was not
before the resident had already provided their bank details to the scammer. Thankfully,
the residents Bank had already become suspicious and blocked the payment.
Whilst
there is no evidence to link this, earlier on in the year, TalkTalk announced
that there had been a data theft of some of their customer’s information.
This
resulted in a number of reports from TalkTalk customers of scam calls being
made to them. TalkTalk provided a dedicated helpline for customers affected by
the hack: 0800 083 2710.
TalkTalk also advised any customers who may have been tricked into revealing
their confidential banking details should report this to their bank. The
company has also posted advice on its help page.
Earlier this month, the Carphone Warehouse also announced that the personal details of up to 2.4
million of its customers may have been accessed in a cyber-attack.
Carphone Warehouse says the data could include names,
addresses’, date of birth and bank details and was contacting all those
affected. Click
here for more information.
We would urge anyone who receives a cold call from
someone claiming to be from TalkTalk or the Carphone Warehouse asking for
payment or bank details to hang up the call immediately.
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The Hearing Clinic, based in Derby, was fined £220,000 following
hundreds of complaints about speculative calls regarding hearing loss claims.
It was the first fine issued by the Claims Management Regulator who were
given new powers to deal with nuisance callers.
Many of those called by the Hearing Clinic had subscribed to the
Telephone Preference Service (TPS), indicating that they did not want to
receive unsolicited calls.
The Hearing Clinic made millions of unwanted and unlawful sales calls.
How to deal with cold callers:
- Ask cold callers to remove your
information from their records
- Find out caller's number from a
landline by dialling 1471 after the call
- Check with your phone company if you
can be made ex-directory
Don't:
- Give away personal or financial
information, even if callers claim to be from a company you know
- Lose your temper. Be firm and hang up
if the caller refuses to go away
- Call back phone numbers left on your
voicemail, or reply to text messages you don't recognise
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 Following one report of a child who, whilst removing
a PATRULL nightlight from a socket the lid came off giving the child an
electric shock and causing visible wounds on his hands, IKEA are urging customers
who have a PATRULL nightlight to immediately stop using it and return it to an IKEA store for a full refund.
The product was removed from sale
the same day as the report came in and an investigation started. More than 600
PATRULL nightlights have since been tested and all were OK. In spite of
this IKEA has decided to recall the lamp to avoid the risk of any further
incidents.
PATRULL nightlight has been sold in
Europe and North America since 2013.
Proof of purchase (receipt) is not required for a
full refund. For more information, please contact IKEA Customer Services on 0203 645 0010.
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 Nisa
is recalling some packs of its Heritage 4 cupcakes price marked £1 because of a
production error meaning the presence of soya is not mentioned as an ingredient
on the packaging of the product. This means the product is a possible health
risk for anyone with an allergy to soya.
Pack
size: 168g with a Best before: 2
October 2015
If
you have bought this product and have an allergy to soya, do not eat it and return
it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund.
For
further information, call the company’s Member Support Centre on: 01724 282028.
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 TJX
Europe Ltd is recalling Choco Creation Fruit Mix because it contains peanut
which is not mentioned as an ingredient on the packaging of the product. This
means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to
peanut. The product was on sale at TK Maxx and HomeSense stores during June and
July 2015.
Pack
size: 200g with a ‘Best before’ end: 19 November 2015 - Lot: 5132 and ‘Best
before’ end: 18 January 2016 - Lot: 5174
If
you have bought the above product and have an allergy to peanut, do not eat it
and return it to any TK Maxx or HomeSense store for a full refund.
For
further information, call Customer Service on: 01923 473561 or email: customerservice@tjxeurope.com
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For
more information on scams, visit: www.coventry.gov.uk/scams
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