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12th May 2010 to Present

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Cleaner sales- Trading Standards Warning 17/06/10

Roofs and Driveways- Trading Standards Warning 15/06/10

Boiler Room Scams -Trading Standards Warning 15/06/10

Computer Viruses and World Cup Scammers -Trading Standards Warning 15/06/10

Scam Warnings Alarm Salesmen 25/05/10

Scam Warnings Fish Salesmen 25/05/10

 

Cleaner Sales

17 June 2010

Residents are asked to be aware of the following practice currently targeting the Adlington area in Chorley , but also recently reported elsewhere:

A business selling vacuum cleaners is intensively leafleting houses, distributing raffle tickets to win a Nissan Micra or a free carpet shampoo. Customers who give their details on the raffle tickets may then be contacted and informed they have won a free carpet shampoo. During the visit to carry this out, they will be subject to a sales pitch for an expensive vacuum cleaner costing between £1000 and £2000. Residents need to be aware of the sales business behind this free cleaning offer. Tradesmen should always leave premises when asked- if not, report them to Trading Standards.

Consumers agreeing to deal with traders where the contract is agreed at the consumer's home should be aware that they will have a cooling off period to cancel any work agreed to, or any purchases made over £35, although in certain circumstances the customer may have to pay for any goods installed or work carried out so far. Also be aware that the contract will not be enforceable against the customer unless information about your right to cancel is given in writing.

We advise residents never to deal with cold-callers, to ensure you obtain full name, address and landline details from all workmen, and to double-check identification and references from other customers- do not assume credentials are genuine. Also ensure any price you are quoted is fair and genuine by obtaining estimates from other traders or sellers, and by ensuring the work agreed and the price to be charged is written down on a quotation before you agree to the work starting. Using a credit card for a purchase over £100 may give extra protection should problems arise further down the line.

Roofs and Driveways- Trading Standards Warning

16 June 2010

Lancashire Trading Standards are warning that June has brought an increase in the incidence of cold-calling driveway and roofing complaints, and that residents are asked to be on guard against the gangs of workmen targeting towns across the region, and to look out for any vulnerable or older neighbours who may be pressurised by cold callers. No one gang is responsible for the complaints- descriptions of the traders vary vastly.

Complaints about cold-calling roofers have come in from Hutton, Bamber Bridge, Burnley, Nelson, Barnoldswick, Leyland, and Skelmersdale and include aggressive practices, cracked tiles, vastly increasing prices throughout the job, newly-installed cappings hanging off, peeling paint, and fairly new roofs painted with 'sealants' for extortionate prices. Typically the traders are uncontactable when things go wrong or promise to return to fix problems but never arrive. In some cases the roofers have pestered householders until they have finally given in and reluctantly agreed to the work.

Complaints about cold-calling paving and driveways companies have been received from Morecambe, Preston, Leyland, Ormskirk and Fleetwood and include persistence until the resident agrees to the work, messy concrete or broken tarmac, blocked drains caused by the work, and in one case a resident left unable to open the shed door due to the tarmac outside it. Yet again faults remain unfixed since the workers often leave uncontactable numbers.

Residents are advised to use reputable traders with land lines, local addresses and references. Alternatively check for a trader on the County Council-backed Safe Trader website www.safetrader.org.uk .

Boiler Room Scams -Trading Standards Warning

15 June 2010

Following on the heels of a fraud in Lancaster where a lady lost over £90,000 on bogus shares, it has been revealed that thousands of other Lancashire residents are at risk from crooked share scamsters, according a recently- recovered master list used by boiler room fraudsters.

Boiler room frauds occur when victims are cold called out of the blue and sold bogus or unsellable shares, often penny shares. The usual method is to make three phone calls to an existing share-owner. The first call will be friendly and chatty, and mention some shares that are doing well. The second call will inform the customer that the previously-mentioned shares have increased in value considerably, and suggest purchasing some in the future, but end the call without closing the deal. The third call will then go for the jugular, applying pressure to close the deal, and may use threats and claim that a contract was made on the previous call and is now being broken. The sellers commonly have fake UK addresses and route their phone lines abroad.

The list is the biggest the Financial Services Authority has ever recovered and is believed to still be in active use by boiler rooms operating in the UK and abroad.

It contains the names and addresses of more than 38,000 people, including over three thousand from Lancashire and Yorkshire , believed to be the intended targets of get-rich-quick scam merchants, who contact their victims out of the blue and offer them worthless or bogus shares.

Every person on the list will be written to by the authorities to warn them that they could be the target of share fraud, and to inform them how to avoid getting scammed.

Advice to those approached by cold calling share sellers is never to buy anything and to put down the receiver straight away. It is very unusual for a genuine company to sell shares by telephone. Consumers should therefore always assume any cold-called approach is suspect, and should never agree to buy or sell shares in this way. Anyone selling shares should be registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) -this register can be checked on-line or on the phone.

The estimated cost of boiler room fraud in the UK is £200 million per year. The average victim reporting the scam loses £20,000. 

Anybody who thinks they may have been targeted by a boiler room should call the FSA's customer contact centre on 0845 606 1234. Advice is also available from Consumer Direct on 08454 040506, while anyone who has been the victim of fraud should report the case to the police.

Warning issued by Lancashire County Council Trading Standards Service.

Computer Viruses and World Cup Scammers -Trading Standards Warning

Computer Viruses and World Cup Scammers -Trading Standards Warning

15 June 2010

Lancashire Trading Standards is warning consumers to beware of bogus telephone callers currently ringing Lancs residents. The callers claim to be from one of the large software providers. They inform consumers that their computers are full of viruses, and then request credit card details in order to charge a fee of typically around £70. As well as the loss of money, there is also the potential future fraud once criminals get hold of a customer's credit card details. An additional worry is in case they ask consumers to install a program to give the scam company remote control of your computer.

A second warning is linked to lottery scammers, who have seized on the World Cup to mass-mail Lancashire consumers with 'winning' letters purporting to be from the '2010 FIFA World Cup Promotion'. The worry is that many people will have purchased tickets and entered competitions related to the World Cup, and are therefore more likely to respond, believing the letters to be genuine. This particular letter fraudulently bears several brand logos from World Cup sponsors- McDonalds, Budweiser, Continental etc- and purports to be from the UK Bond Security Company, giving false addresses on Canary Wharf and Oxford Street in London . Consumers are asked to phone or fax their bank details to numbers provided.

Scam Warnings 25/05/10

25 May 2010

LANCASHIRE County Council is warning consumers to beware of hard-selling alarm salesmen peddling cheap alarms that come with expensive maintenance contracts.

These companies are currently hitting the Preston, Penwortham, Ashton on Ribble, Whittingham, Fulwood, Lytham, Chorley , Fleetwood, and Whitworth areas, but have also been all over the county in recent months and have been the subject of previous warnings.

Residents are telephoned by salesmen and women who make appointments to come round and sell alarms for £1, however if the offer is taken up the arrangements entered into will cost several thousands in maintenance contracts over several years. Sometimes consumers are tied into credit agreements which can then almost double the maintenance cost.The company is alleged to use hard-sell tactics and to say that the resident has lost a great opportunity if refusing, & that they would now be contacting another household in the area with this great offer. There are also indications from some salesmen that residents have been specially chosen to take part in a survey, or that the company has crime prevention or other official links.

 

We would be grateful to receive any further intelligence on sales pitches and claims made, although we are stressing to consumers that they should refuse these offers at once, and not make appointments with any cold callers. Please refer any complaints to Lancashire Trading Standards Service, 55 Guildhall Street, Preston, Lancs PR1 3NU via Consumer Direct tel 08454 040506 and ask them to pass the information to trading standards straight away.

 

Scam Warnings 25/05/10

25 May 2010

LANCASHIRE County Council is warning consumers to beware of fish salesmen travelling down from the North East, persuading householders into buying hundreds of pounds worth of fresh fish.

The traders have recently been door to door in Preston and Lytham, asking residents if they would like to buy some fish. A piece of fresh white fish is shown, and fish such as 'wild' salmon (which is then supplied labelled 'farmed') is offered at "cheaper than supermarket prices".

Householders think they are only buying a few pieces but they are then supplied with a large amount of often unlabelled fish, some of it unfit to eat and requiring instant disposal, and a bill for over three hundred pounds.

When buying fish this way, the purchaser has no way of knowing how it has been stored or whether it is safe to eat. Furthermore, a lack of cancellation rights or a receipt makes any problems difficult to sort out. These traders originate outside of Lancashire and the absence of paperwork makes tracing them a problem.

 

We would be grateful to receive any further intelligence on these salemen, especially if they are currently trading in any area. Please refer any complaints to Lancashire Trading Standards Service, 55 Guildhall Street, Preston, Lancs PR1 3NU via Consumer Direct tel 08454 040506 and ask them to pass the information to trading standards straight away.

 

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