Scam Calls: A Suffolk resident has received a number of SCAM calls from someone purporting to be from Suffolk County Council . The automated messages advised that they were calling with regards to a product the resident had received and requested that they press 1 to be transferred to customer services. As with any telephone call that you receive out of the blue, we urge you to be vigilant and take a moment to stop and think, especially if you receive a request over the phone or e-mail to make a payment from someone claiming to be from a trusted organisation. If you are in any doubt, contact the company or organisation directly using an email or phone number from their official website. Impersonation scams occur when the victim is persuaded to make a payment to a criminal claiming to be from a trusted organisation. This could include the police, a bank, a utility company, or a government department. Report all scam calls to us via Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.
Exam scam: Social media scammers are charging pupils hundreds of pounds for what they claim are leaked GCSE and A-level exam papers, but are likely to be fakes or non-existent. The risks to students are high, with not only the loss of money but the possibility of downloading malicious malware, as well as the possibility of being disqualified. Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator at Ofqual, stated: "Students should also be aware of the risks of exam papers on social media. Accounts claiming to sell this year's exam papers are almost always scams. Students should report these accounts to teachers. Students risk losing the qualification they've been studying for if they search for or communicate with social media accounts claiming to sell leaked exam papers. Sanctions can still apply even if the papers turn out to be fake. Buying papers is never worth the risk."
How to recognise and report emails, texts, websites, adverts or phone calls that you think are trying to scam you.
'Phishing' is when criminals use scam emails, text messages or phone calls to trick their victims. The aim is often to make you visit a website, which may download a virus onto your computer, or steal bank details or other personal information.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is a UK government organisation that has the power to investigate and take down scam email addresses and websites.
Reporting a scam is free and only takes a minute.
Report an email you think is a scam
If you have received an email which you’re not quite sure about, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk
Report a text message you think is a scam
Most phone providers are part of a scheme that allows customers to report suspicious text messages for free by forwarding it to 7726. If you forward a text to 7726, your provider can investigate the origin of the text and arrange to block or ban the sender, if it’s found to be malicious.
Report a website you think is a scam
Many scammers operate fake websites, which will download viruses to your computer, or are designed to steal passwords or other personal information. You can report a suspicious website link or URL here www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/about-this-website/report-scam-website
Report an advert you think is a scam
If you see a suspicious ad in a paid-for space, you can report it to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). This includes adverts on social media: www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint/report-an-online-scam-ad.html
Craft Fair Scam: Small businesses beware! We are seeing fake Craft Fair adverts popping up all over the local Facebook community groups. The posts advertise a fictional craft fayre, fair or similar event which claims to be held at a local hall. The organiser calls out for stall holders to sign up and pay a sum of money to them. In reality there is no event and the fraudster is hoping people will send them a stall holders pitch fee.
Scam craft fair red flags
Venue is not tagged in the post
Post requests people to send a private message
Request for a "friends and family" payment via PayPal
No event advertised on the venue's page
Please do your homework before booking into any events and make sure the person advertising such events is a genuine organiser. Call the venue first and double check the event, before parting with any money. If people spot an advert on social media and think it may be a scam, please report it to the admin of the social media page that you see them on so that they can be removed straight away. Investment fraud: Have you ever received a phone call, email or text – or seen a post or advertisement on social media – offering a great investment? If so, have you been tempted to find out more? Or perhaps you’ve actually invested some money. Investments are a favourite trick used by fraudsters to steal your money … either funds you’ve put aside ‘for a rainy day’ or life savings to be used for a dream holiday or your retirement. Between 2020 and the end of 2023, nearly 100,000 people in the UK fell victim to investment scams, totalling £2.6 billion or £13 million every week. These figures refer only to reported scams, so are likely to be considerably higher. There are more types of investment scams than we have room to list here, but they are almost always very convincing, with professional looking communications, correspondence and websites, and even seminars. Some feature quotes from ‘satisfied clients’. Some scams offer you high returns at low risk, others offer normal returns. Whatever the case, it is almost certain that you will not get your hard-earned money back.
Protect yourself from investment scams
- Consider that if an individual or organisation contacts you randomly about an investment opportunity, it is likely to be either a scam or an investment carrying high risk.
- Consider that in the UK, almost all financial services firms must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which operates the Financial Services Register and Consumer Helpline. Details can be found on the Get Safe Online website.
- Learn to spot the classic signs of an investment fraud, such as unrealistically high returns (although this is not always the case), undue pressure or limited time offers. Over-familiarity or flattery, absence of a physical address or being requested to provide remote access to your device.
- If you receive a cold call offering an investment, do not engage in conversation, but instead end the call by either disconnecting straight away, or after saying “No thanks, I’m not interested.”
- If you receive an online or text communication about an investment, ignore it and if it’s an email, delete it. Do not click on any links or attachments.
- Consider registering with the Telephone Preference Service and Mailing Preference Service to reduce the number of unsolicited calls and letters you receive.
- Callers may pretend they are not cold calling you by referring to a brochure or an email they have already sent.
- Ignore unsolicited offers of help in recovering money you have lost to a scam, as this will undoubtedly be another scam.
Reporting investment scams
- If you have paid money or given your bank account details to a firm or individual you think may be operating a scam, tell your bank immediately.
- If you are suspicious that an approach about an investment has been made by a fraudster, contact the FCA Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768 or using its reporting form.
- Report to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040
- If you think the scammer is impersonating an authentic business, report the attempted or actual fraud to that business.
- If you have agreed to transfer your pension and now suspect a scam, contact your pension provider straight away. They may be able to stop a transfer that has not yet taken place.
Did you know sunscreen has an expiry? The open jar symbol will show you how many months it will last once opened. The longer a bottle of sunscreen is open, the less effective it is at protecting your skin. If you’re using the same sunscreen from last summer, check that it hasn’t expired before using it.
Suffolk Trading Standards Imports Team stopped over 1,300 pairs of sunglasses from entering the UK at the port of Felixstowe last year. Five separate consignments of sunglasses were intercepted by the team and all failed to meet product safety laws. Sunglasses are classed as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and consumers should be able to rely on sunglasses to protect their eyes from harmful UV exposure. However, the sunglasses seen by the team were either not CE marked at all or had a fake CE mark applied, which means they hadn’t undergone essential safety testing. There was no traceability for these products and key information such as manufacturer name, model and batch number was missing. The sunglasses did not bear the filter category or have any of the required warnings. Three of the importers supplied fake test reports, and two importers couldn’t provide any technical documentation at all. The sunglasses were imported from China and destined for sale on eBay and Amazon. All have been destroyed. If you have purchased a product that you think may be unsafe, stop using it immediately and report it to Trading Standards via Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133. Make sure you only buy sunglasses from a reputable retailer. If buying on an online marketplace such as Amazon or eBay, make sure you check the details of the seller and that they have a UK address. Check the reviews for the product to see what others have said, and remember, if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is! Importers are responsible for ensuring that all the products imported comply with UK product safety legislation. It is a criminal offence to supply an unsafe or non-compliant product. If you import consumer goods, you can find out more about your responsibilities and obligations here: www.suffolk.gov.uk/community-and-safety/suffolk-trading-standards/import-surveillance-team
Recall: Yoto have identified a safety issue with Yoto Minis manufactured between 2021 and 2023. A small number of the products contain a battery that can overheat when at a high state of charge, posing a potential burn or fire hazard. Yoto are providing everyone who has a Yoto Mini with a free Yoto Mini Smart Cable (one per device) which will charge the battery to a safe level. Yoto have also implemented an automatic software update across all Yoto Minis. For further information, or to request your smart cable, please access the Yoto site at the following link: https://uk.yotoplay.com/recall.