Trading Standards News June 2024
13th of June, 2024
Consumer Alerts – June 2024
Driveway scam
Beware cold callers knocking on doors in
the Lancaster area offering to spray your
driveway to kill weeds and/or power
wash your drive. One resident paid £250
and suspects no weed killer was used.
Another resident paid £200 upfront as
part payment for the job, the traders did
not return to carry out the work.
Trading Standards advice is to always
say no to cold callers. The Safetrader
scheme can help you find a trader in
your area, contact 0303 333 1111 or
go to www.safetrader.org.uk.
Dating investment scam
A Lancashire resident lost £6,000 after
meeting someone on a dating site who
claimed to be a stock trader. After a
number of conversations, and a future
plan to meet, his date convinced the
complainant to go into business with her,
asking him to take out a loan in his
name, which they would pay back
together. The money was to be used to
invest in stocks to generate additional
profit which would then be invested into
the business.
However, when it came time to pay the
loan back, the scammer vanished with
the money. This was a very professional
scam, with an untraceable website and a
plausible back story. Never send money
to someone unrecommended, who you
do not know, no matter how good the
business opportunity sounds.
Message scam
Be suspicious and use caution if you
receive a text or What's App message
from a family member or close friend
from a mobile number you do not
recognise asking for money. Typically,
the message can allege it is from your
son or daughter saying this is their new
number and the request for money will
sound urgent.
Fraudulent Virgin calls
Beware receiving a scam call from Virgin
Media. One householder, on answering
the phone call, stated they were not with
Virgin but the caller managed to
convince them they were carrying out
improvement/ modernisation work for all
internet providing companies. The caller
managed to obtain personal information
and shortly after tried to obtain money
via the internet users Paypal account.
Another similar internet related scam call
claims to be checking internet speeds,
claiming the speed the user is getting is
much less than they are paying for. This
then leads to the caller advising they
need to connect your hub to the main
server and ask you to download an App
to your phone, potentially enabling the
caller direct access to your computer.
Report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123
2040 or via www.actionfraud.police.uk.
Scam emails can be reported via
report@phishing.gov.uk. Suspicious
text messages can be forwarded to
7726.
For information on current scams see
www.facebook.com/StanleyDards/.
Contact the Trading Standards
Service via the Citizens Advice
Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.