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In this issue:
 Pristine Auto Limited who traded from 401/403
Foleshill Road, Coventry together with the majority shareholder, Mr Ilyas
Khokhar were found guilty of supplying and unroadworthy and misdescribed vehicle and ordered to pay £6,758.18 in compensation, fines
and costs.
Pristine Auto Ltd sold a Vauxhall Astra last year
which they described as “in good condition” but following a test drive the vehicle
was identified as having a fault with the airbag and supplementary restraint
system. The car was sold on the understanding that the fault would be repaired
but the car had to be returned for further repairs.
The car was eventually returned to the buyer with
the assurance that the vehicle was “all fine now” when in fact the airbag
warning system had been deliberately disabled.
On examination, an independent expert found that the car had been in a front end collision and the subsequent repairs had been
made to a very poor standard and in the case of the front offside
bumper retaining panel, found this to be held on with a cable tie and glue.
The expert also deemed that the car was
unroadworthy.
For further details please see our press release.
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Another Coventry car dealer has been prosecuted after
selling a car that had deliberately been ‘Clocked’.
Mr Lucian Toader of Longfellow Road, Coventry
was ordered to pay £3,691.50 in compensation and costs after he had advertised an
Audi A6 on the Gumtree website with 90,225 miles when in fact it had covered in
excess of 216,000 miles.
The car was further described as: ‘looks and
works very well for her age’.
For
further details please see our press release.
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 Property fraud is where fraudsters target properties by pretending to be you and selling or mortgaging
your home.
Properties at risk are
those which are:
- Empty
- Rented out
- Mortgage free
There is also an
increased risk of fraud where owners are:
- Absent – such as if the owner
is abroad or in a care home
- Having relationship
issues
- To reduce the risk of
becoming a victim of property fraud:
- Ensure your property is
registered with the Land Registry
- Keep the Land Registry
have your up to date contact details
- Use the Free Land
Registry Property Alert
Service
By signing up for the free
Property Alert service you will receive an alert about activities that seems
suspicious and telling you what to do and who to contact.
For more information on the
Property Alert Service telephone – 0300 006 0478
Further information on property fraud
advice is available from: www.gov.uk/propertyfraud
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We receive regular enquiries regarding the sale of wristbands on main shopping streets in the City Centre
querying if the sellers are connected or associated with charities or good
causes.
Wristbands have been used by many legitimate good
causes and charities as a way of showing support and also as a fundraising
method. Unfortunately this does give the potential for the approach to be
exploited by both individual traders and companies selling these items as a
commercial enterprise claiming to be ‘supporting’ a message to tackle a problem
or ‘highlighting’ an issue.
It may well be that in these cases that only some,
or none, of the money paid to the seller for the wristband will pass to a
genuine charity.
Our advice - if you are approached by an on street
seller of ‘charity’ wristbands:
- Ask who the wristband is being sold by?
-
Ask if they are a registered charity?
If a charity number is given you can visit the Charity Commission website to check if this number is genuine
- Ask what the money raised will be used for and
how much of the donation/purchase price will support this activity?
If you are uncertain about the responses given you
may wish to consider if you want to complete the purchase.
If you are thinking about supporting and donating to a charity, make direct contact with them to find the best way to donate.
If you are concerned about the activities of people claiming to be charity collectors, report this to Action Fraud
via their online fraud reporting tool or
to Citizens Advice consumer service via their online reporting form.
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 A Tile Hill resident was approached
by a man offering for sale ‘quality memory foam mattresses from a firm going
into liquidation’ which he had in the back of his van.
Both the man and the van were branded
‘Dreamers’.
The man said they were worth £1000
but would accept £260 but in the resident’s opinion the mattress was not of a
very high quality.
The Sleep Council has an extremely
good video
showing the pitfalls of buying mattresses from people selling from the back of
a van.
It shows that mattresses sold in this
fashion are often old and discarded ones that have simply been recovered or
could pose a safety hazard and although they may display a Fire Safety Label
there is no way of checking if this was genuine or not.
Our advice: Do not
purchase goods or services from people who approach you in the street or from
callers who cold call on your doorstep.
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A
local Westwood resident has reported an email purporting to come from Samsung saying
they are the winners of €750,000, a Samsung Ativ Book9 lite and a Samsung
Galaxy Note 3.
To
receive the prize the resident has been asked to provide personal information
such as name, address and even their occupation – this is no more than a scam!
Anyone responding to such an email will eventually be asked for advance
fees to cover expenses associated with delivery of the supposed
"winnings". Any payments will be via Western Union or Ukash vouchers
which are untraceable once cashed. By responding and providing all the
requested information you may also become victims of identity theft
This is a typical advance fee lottery scam, where criminals send out
thousands of identical messages in the hope of tricking at least a few people into
believing that they have actually won a large sum of money.
Samsung have said: “Please note that these emails (and the promotions/ prizes referred
to in them) have no association to SAMSUNG Electronics. It is rare (if ever)
that any SAMSUNG Electronics' promotions offer cash prizes or cash alternatives
to prizes. As such, any message referring to any such prizes should be treated
with the utmost caution.
We strongly recommend that you do not respond to these messages
but instead forward them to SAMSUNG Electronics' UK communications team using
this email address - ukmarcoms@samsung.com. “
If
you see one of these e mails, do not respond - even in jest. If you do,
your email account will be added to a list of respondents and you will begin to
receive even more.
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For
more information on scams, visit: www.coventry.gov.uk/scams
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