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Puppies for sale, the Cennus and bogus Royal Mail deliveries are some of the scams in operation in Warwickshire.
Householders are being urged to beware of the latest tricks con artists are using to part the unsuspecting of their hard earned cash.
Warwickshire’s trading standards team have compiled a list of all of the current scams they have been alerted to locally and around the country.
They hope by raising awareness to them it will stop any other people falling victim.
Census 2021 ‘Be Scam Aware‘
Census Day is Sunday, March 21 and after Census Day, at the end of March and into April, census field officers will be visiting households from which they have not received a completed census form. They will encourage people to complete the census and help residents to access further help if they need it.
Scammers may seek to use the Census as an opportunity to perpetrate doorstep, telephone, and online scams, so it is important to remember the following:
At no point will you be asked for your national insurance number, passwords, bank account details, or your credit or debit card numbers, nor any payment
You will not receive any payment for completing the census, so any offers of money in exchange for your account details will be fraudulent
You will not be called for information about the census unless you’ve made an appointment with the Census Contact Centre or made a query or complaint
No-one will enter your home in relation to the census
Damp Proof Scam warning
Warwickshire homeowners have reported receiving nuisance phone calls from people informing them that someone will visit their property to check for damp.
The callers were also asking about the resident’s financial situation.
Offering free surveys is sometimes a way for unscrupulous businesses to access people’s properties so they can apply the ‘hard sell’ and carry out often very expensive and unnecessary insulation work.
Put the phone down immediately on cold callers and never buy goods or services from unexpected callers, either on the doorstep or over the phone.
Bogus Royal Mail parcel delivery
More residents are reporting receiving bogus emails stating that Royal Mail has attempted to deliver a parcel to them without success and now requires ‘additional details’ in order to attempt to re-deliver the parcel, as the ‘address appears to be incomplete’.
The emails contain a ‘book your delivery’ link that directs you to a bogus website.
Never click on a link in a suspicious email
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Beware Puppy Scams
Trading Standards animal health officers have received reports of criminal gangs illegally smuggling puppies into the UK to sell, puppies being stolen and sold on and consumers paying huge deposits to online sellers for puppies that do not exist.
Illegally imported puppies may carry diseases that are a threat to human health such as rabies.
Criminal gangs have also been involved in puppy farming, where dogs are often bred in appalling conditions, increasing the risk of disease and ill health.
To help avoid puppy scams, top tips can be found here
Help and support
To make a consumer complaint or for consumer help and advice, contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.
For consumer or business help and advice, including details of our approved trader scheme, visit the trading standards website here
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