Evesham and Pershore join forces to beat the scammers
PEOPLE from Evesham and Pershore have been encouraged to join forces to beat the scammers that cost the county £30m a year.
Worcestershire County Council’s Scamnesty event, which takes place throughout February, is designed to fight back against the fraudsters who target local residents for their mass-marketed scam mailings.
To combat this, special Scamnesty boxes will be placed at different venues around the county, including at the Evesham Community Contact Centre and the Pershore One Stop Shop, in the hope that people will drop off examples of scam mail which they receive.
The council hopes the Scamnesty boxes will help provide valuable new intelligence to the Office of Fair Trading and local authority Trading Standards to help information future investigations.
Last year’s campaign revealed that the top five mass-marketed scam mailings were: • deceptive sweepstakes • misleading prize draws • fake clairvoyants or psychics • bogus foreign lotteries • ‘miracle’ health cures Coun Derek Prodger, cabinet member for transport and safe environment, said: “This year’s Scamnesty is expected to reveal a marked increase in the scale and range of mass marketed scam mailings.
“Every day people are at risk from unscrupulous fraudsters who want to con them out of their cash.
“By dropping you scam mail into your local Scamnesty boxes you will help provide crucial intelligence to support us in stopping them.”
If you have been the victim of a scam call Consumer Direct for practical advice on 08454 040506.
For more information go to www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/scamnesty/
Links:
www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/scamnesty/ www.tewkesburyadmag.co.uk