Latest scam and rogue trader alerts from Warwickshire Trading Standards
Emergency Pendant Systems Sales Warning
Elderly people living in Warwickshire are warned to beware of unscrupulous businesses using high pressure and underhand selling tactics to sell fall alarms and similar emergency pendant systems.
Some businesses have been writing to older residents, claiming that they had already agreed to purchase these devices, when they had not, and indeed had never heard of the business before. In some cases equipment was even sent (completely unsolicited) with a request for bank details and a demand to pay!
Unsolicited goods are goods which a trader sends to a potential customer, without the customer having ordered them. The customer does not have to pay for them or send them back. It is a criminal offence for a trader to demand payment for unsolicited goods.
In a similar case, residents reported receiving unsolicited ‘cold’ phone calls from a trader falsely claiming to be from "your local healthcare team" and offering a free medical alert device. The trader falsely claimed that due to the digital telephone switchover, local councils might no longer be able to provide assistive technology (emergency pendants etc.) services!
This is another way that unscrupulous businesses sell their products, by falsely claiming to be healthcare professionals (instead of salespeople), suggesting local councils won’t be able to provide these services in the future and offering ‘free’ devices without disclosing that they have hefty annual maintenance and monitoring costs.
Trading Standards advises Warwickshire residents who require any help to assist them to live at home independently to visit this Warwickshire County Council website
Investment Con
Warwickshire residents are again being targeted by bogus investment ‘experts’ who are contacting people on WhatsApp before asking them to take out bank loans or borrow money from friends and family to invest in global currencies. Be very wary of these sorts of approaches. If you are thinking of investing, read the following guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority first.
You’re The beneficiary of $1,200,000
Scam emails suggesting you have received huge amounts of money are still being sent out by fraudsters. In the latest scam email, fraudsters, falsely posing as the FBI claim that the recipient is owed $1,200,000. To receive the payment, they are asked to send $600 to the ‘FBI’ to receive an ATM card they can use to withdraw the money! These scam emails also ask for other information including personal and bank details. These can be used by fraudsters to target people again in the future with new scams. More advice from the National Cyber Security Centre