Caerphilly Council Backs Campaign To Expose Scammers
Caerphilly county borough council’s Trading Standards team are urging residents to spread the word about scams and expose the tactics of fraudsters to protect others.
July is ‘Scams Awareness Month’ and the authority wants to help prevent local people falling prey to scams. They are advising residents to follow a simple three-step rule – Get advice, report it, and tell others about it.
It comes as national research by Citizens Advice finds scammers are using a variety of tactics to get people to part with their cash, with people losing an average of £2,500 across all types of scam.
Each week throughout July’s ‘Scams Awareness Month’ has a special ‘theme’ and the council will be posting advice and information on the following topis
· Phone scams (week 1)
· Online scams (week 2)
· Mail scams (week 3)
· Doorstep scams (week 4)
Citizens Advice is warning people to be on guard and watch out for the different methods used by fraudsters, from doorstep selling of counterfeit goods to demands for upfront payments for services that never materialise.
Cllr Nigel George, Cabinet Member at Caerphilly Council said, “Scams are not a minor blight, they heap misery on people and in some cases can lead to financial ruin. Fraudsters use sophisticated techniques to con people and because they vary their methods, it can be tricky to spot when something is a scam. If you come across something that seems suspicious, seek advice so you don’t put yourself at risk.
“It’s vital to report scams and spread the word so we can clampdown on con artists and stop others falling into the same traps.”
Phone Scams – Over the past month consumers in both Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent have been targeted by telephone scammers pretending to be from various Government departments. In Caerphilly, scamsters posing as solicitors from the Ministry of Justice contacted a resident to inform them that they have obtained PPI compensation and that the Government solicitor fees needed to be paid via iTunes cards. The victim purchased over £550 of iTunes cards and gave the ID code over the phone. The scamsters then sell on the codes on the black market and pocket the cash.
In Blaenau Gwent, a resident was contacted by telephone by someone claiming to be from HMRC, indicating that the resident owed over £20,000 in tax arrears, which had to be paid for via iTunes cards. In both cases the callers were very aggressive and threatening.
In the case of the Caerphilly resident, investigations also revealed that they had been the victim of at least two other telephone scams, one where bank account details were given over the phone and money taken directly from the account, and another where the resident was persuaded to send money direct to Asia via Moneygram. In total the resident has been conned out of £13,000
Details of the scams have been passed to the National Trading Standards Scams Team.
Phone scam advice:
DO NOT give Bank Details to anyone over the telephone
Government Departments do not accept payment by iTunes cards
Trading Standards would also like to alert retailers to this scam and encourage them to be on the lookout for persons purchasing unusually high numbers of the cards, and give details to their local Trading Standards.
What to do if you have been scammed
Get advice and report it to Trading Standards through your local Citizens Advice or through the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email News@News.Wales
