Money Matters - scamsAndrew Fayers

Supporting Businesses and Communities

March 2015

Trading Standards

Part of Supporting Businesses and Communities of County Council

Enforce criminal legislationW&M’s, fair trading, Illicit/counterfeit

goods, food labelling, business advice, animal health, petroleum and explosives, product safety, age restricted goods, education

Scam= Fraud

“Fraud is when trickery is used to gain a dishonest advantage, which is often

financial, over another person.”

(Action Fraud)

Mass marketing scams:

According to the Office of Fair Trading a mass marketed scam is a “misleading or deceptive business practice where the person receives an unsolicited or uninvited contact (e.g. by letter, email, phone or advertisement) and false promises are made to con the victim out of money”.

So why should it interest us?Mass Marketing was a £3.5 billion fraud

2011 (Latest research estimates this to £5 billion)

Total of £38.4 billion lost to fraud in 2011 Each year 3.2 million adults fall victim to

scamsEveryone is targetedNeed to protect the community

The scale of mass marketing scam mail22,000 replied to one scam mail shot and

sent £500,000 in one day!Some people receive 100’s of letters a

week! One UK based company sends out 1

million letters a week! Profit comes premium rate number and selling lists of people who reply.

Types of scams

Clairvoyants/spiritual protectionCatalogues – Herbal remedies, vitamins Lottery PrizesHolidaysInheritanceThird World person needs your help!Boiler room

Phone - Open phone line scamsComputer – I am from MicrosoftComputer - Bad luck story – Robbed

abroadComputer/Phone - Bank account/credit

card– Suspicious activity

Grieving son discovers his dead mother lost her £100,000 life savings to postal lottery scammers who sent her 100 letters a week for six years

Daily Mail Headline 27 Feb 2015

'Looking back now, I think she was brainwashed but also bullied into sending the money because when I used to call her she would let the phone go to answer phone and call me back.'She'd say she missed the call because she was in the kitchen or doing something upstairs but now I think she was actually hiding from the scammers.'

Her bank account was overdrawn!

Why is mass marketing effective

‘‘Don’t ever speak to anyone of me, neither of this letter, nor of your ‘Sacred Gem of permanent protection’, nor of the cheque I am going to send you!’’

Personal to the recipient Rely on secrecyTrust -belief what is written is true

How to spot scam letters

They may appear official using formal jargon or appear handwritten and personalised

Offer anything from large sums of cash to magical cures, spiritual protection to once in a lifetime holidays.

Ask for a relatively small fee of between £20 and £50 at the outset to test recipients ‘appetite’ for scams.

Generally you will be pressurised into responding quickly.

Promised prize never materialises. Instead you receive letters requesting further payments before you are entitled to the prize.

Open phone line scams

Credit card scamsAsk for money or card –taken by courier

Never give your pin number or card to anyoneNever hand over moneyListen for dialling tonePhone number printed in phone book

Bogus Police Officer scam

Week beginning 5 Jan in Huntingdon area, 7 calls were received regarding the scam

Attempts made to coerce personal and bank details

One victim passed over £10,000 to a male who attended the address to collect the money

Police and banks will not ask for details in this way. Never hand over cards or money.

Police information 5 weeks agoThe caller (to a house) reported to be the relative of

a close neighbour who had just found out they had been burgled.

They needed some cash to help pay for the boarding up as they did not have enough cash on them

They suggested they would return the cash the next day.

The victim later became suspicious and called at her neighbours to discover that the burglary had not occurred and they had been conned out of cash.

Best advice of all

KEEP CALM AND HANG UP

So what can we do?

MPS???TPS??? Company offering to register you

for £30 another for £70!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Security SoftwareReport to Action FraudReturn scam mail to Royal Mail

Do the preference services work

Only for UK companies – does not work for anything emanating from abroad.

Large fines for UK companies Recent Government announcement on

strengthening rules

TalkTalk was fined £750,000 for silent calls by Ofcom

And what else

Purchase new phone equipment!TrueCall technologyNever supply card or bank details Never pay up front for a prizeLook out for neighbours

Copycat sites

Look like the genuine government site PassportEIII cardsDriving LicenceCharge for a free service

Pensions

Use advisors authorised by FCAFinancial Conduct Authority Check their register

www.fca.org.uk/register Beware of cold calls about pensionsScammers may offer you tempting ways

to invest your pension pot

Cold CallsNever make a rush decision about your

pension moneyBeware of words like ‘pension liberation’,

‘loan’, ‘loophole’, ‘free pension review’ or ‘one-off investment’

Beware of offers for an investment described as ‘unique’, ‘overseas’, ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘ethical’ or in a ‘new’ industry

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk

Before you sign anything, you can call The Pensions Advisory Service on 0300 123 1047 for information and guidance about pension scams

Rogue Trading - Fraud

Deliberately overcharging for unsatisfactory goods and/or services. Includes charging for unnecessary work, damaging property

in order to obtain money, leaving work unfinished and intimidating behaviour to

extort money

MO (Modus operandi)Cold call & Engage

Start on small jobs which get bigger

Make fraudulent claims

Do unnecessary jobs

Return to do more unnecessary jobs

The TradersTravel throughout the

CountryCold Call or deliver fliersRarely have Business

AddressRarely carry Business

PaperworkMost are known to

Police

Is it worth £6000?

Good Neighbours

So what can you look out for:-Traders cold calling in the areaBuilders vans with no names or contact

detailsWork stars unexpectedly Work did not doing –why is person on the

roof?Poor quality work

More signs

Neighbour appears anxious or distressedNeighbour visiting the bank accompanied

by the trader

Note registration numbersKeep flyers

What is a distraction burglar?

“I’m from the ‘Water Board’, there’s a leak down the road and so I need to check your water supply.”

“We’re the police, we’ve caught a burglar who we think has stolen your cash and we need to check your money is safe.”

A distraction burglar may use a variety phrases to try and gain entry into your home

Distraction Burglary

Water Requests paper & penWorking for council Police Officer Gas Dog in the garden

LOCK STOP CHAIN CHECK

Doors LockedStop are you expecting anyone Put the chain onCheck ID

Questions

Thank you for listening