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I wanted to provide you with an update regarding Fraud (e.g. bogus callers, courier fraud, cyber-crime), which people around your area have highlighted as an issue of concern on the priority survey. As technology becomes more sophisticated, so do the techniques used by criminals.
They now use a wide variety of methods to trick people, so here's a rundown of the most common to keep an eye out for.
IMPERSONATION SCAMS:
Criminals are experts at impersonating trusted organisations, including banks, the police, and government departments such as HMRC, to convince you to make a payment or share your personal and financial details. They often use alarmist language and time-pressure to convince you to make immediate action, they may already have some of your details which they use to add a layer of authenticity to their scam.
INVESTMENT SCAMS:
A simple search engine click for terms, such as "best bonds" or "cryptocurrency" can result in numerous paid adverts or comparison websites results claiming to be from legitimate firms offering guaranteed returns with minimal risk. In many cases, you're asked to complete a "contact form" with your details for a call back to be arranged. Criminals also often use the names and logos of genuine investments firms to set up cloned websites.
You may receive paperwork with official branding or even receive initial payments as a result of your investment to convince you to invest larger sums of money.
PURCHASE SCAMS:
From designer wear to the latest kitchen gadgets, you can find anything when shopping online, and with more of us opting to use this service in the hopes of finding a bargain it can be easy to fall for a purchase scam. Criminals advertise goods/service at "too good to be true" prices often via social media or auction sites to trick people into purchasing something that doesn't exist. They may also ask for payment prior to delivery and send fake receipts and invoices that seem to be from the payment provider.
ROMANCE SCAMS:
The ease of online dating services often means you can find the love of your life in the comfort of your own home. However, this also provides criminals with an opportunity to gain your trust and build relationships with you by using information and fake identities found on social media - also known as catfishing. Criminals will claim to declare strong feelings for you just after a few conversations before pretending to need money for a personal emergency or flights to visit you.
COURIER FRAUD:
If you're contacted by someone purporting to be from your bank or the police, take a moment to question their authenticity. If the caller is from the bank, they may claim that their system has spotted a fraudulent payment on your card or that it is due to expire and needs to be replaced. They may even confirm personal details about you such as your full name and address and offer you peace at mind by having someone such as a courier collect your card to save you from having to go to your bank or your local police station. You may even be asked to write down you PIN and place it in a separate envelope to that of you card.
DOORSTEP SCAMS:
Doorstep criminals can come in all sorts of disguises, from dodgy salesmen to unscrupulous tradespeople and, can be very convincing. They may claim to have noticed something about your property that needs work or improvement and offer to fix it for an inflated price with payment required upfront.
HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOUSELF AGAINST FRAUD AND SCAMS:
- Avoid disclosing security details
- Emails, phone calls and texts may not be authentic
- Contact organisations directly
- Stop and challenge unexpected requests
- Protect others by reporting fraud and scams.
 People in the UK lost £1.2bn to fraud in 2022, the equivalent of £2,300 every minute, according to bank industry group UK Finance. It said around three million scams took place, with frauds involving payment cards being the most common. Fraud is when trickery is used to gain a dishonest advantage, which is often financial, over another person. Cybercrime is any criminal act dealing with computers and networks. To report an incident of cybercrime or fraud and for further information visit the Action Fraud website at www.actionfraud.police.uk. If you haven’t already listed Action Fraud as an Information Provider who can send you information and alerts, why not click on the settings button at the bottom of this email, log into your account and update your sharing settings. Get Involved Please consider getting involved by registering for these messages, this will enable you to contribute to the local priority survey. We may be unaware of issues that you would like us to focus on. Take a few minutes to securely and privately register and have your say using the button below, this will mean we can focus on things that matter to you. 
Please click here to complete the survey
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