money matters - scams andrew fayers supporting businesses and communities march 2015
TRANSCRIPT
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