Fraud and Scams Awareness top facts, tips and information

An excellent seminar was held on 19th April at Queens Cross Network in Dudley with lots of information available on the latest scams to look out for.

Presentations were done by DS Dan Chappelow from West Midlands Police, Nadeem Mahammed from Trading Standards Illegal Money Lending Team and Chris King from DMBC in conjunction with Dudley Trading Standards.

Here are some of the facts that we found most interesting/useful/surprising:

• On average there are 2187 victims of fraud per month in the West Midlands

• Ages 20-29 are at most risk.

• The average victim of doorstep crime is an 82 year old female living alone

• Less than 10% of this is reported. This is often because the victim doesn’t know they have have been scammed.

Top tips:

• Online privacy: check what others can find out about you – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc…tip: Google yourself and see what you find. Amend your settings as necessary.

• if you have doubts about the legitimacy of a request for information, take a breath and stay calm. See https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk

Stop Loan Sharks Project – trends of loan sharks:

• No paperwork, no receipts

• Violence, intimidation and blackmail

• Rarely advertise, relying on word of mouth and give discounts for referring friends or family members

• Repayments are at least twice the amount borrowed, often with charges for defaulting

Useful Information

Download the latest edition of the Fix a Home booklet here.

For the Little Book of Big Scams click here.

Important numbers

West Midlands Police – 101 (non emergency) 999 (emergency ONLY)

Stop Loan Sharks Project help and advice: call 0300 555 2222, email reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk or text 07860022116

Trading Standards: Dudley bogus caller 24 hour hotline 01384 812 045 – if you have any doubts, call them to check the validity of anything suspicious.