Tag Archives: Trading Standards

Be scam alert

It’s Scams Awareness Month and Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service is warning consumers and businesses about the latest scams and offering advice to avoid becoming a victim.

Lock down scam: Warwickshire computer users have contacted Trading Standards after receiving an ‘official’ looking message on their computer screen, claiming to be from the Police. The message suggests that they have visited an inappropriate website and that their computer has been ‘locked down’. They are asked to send £100 in Ukash vouchers in order to ‘unlock it’. The scam is believed to be caused by an Internet virus.

We have money for you scam: If you receive a letter, telephone call or email claiming you are owed money, usually for payment protection insurance, a personal injury claim, a lotto win or tax refund – then beware! If you show interest you will be asked to send £100+ in Ukash vouchers in order to receive the bogus payment. One Warwickshire consumer sent £3000 worth of Ukash vouchers to people he thought had obtained for him a refund for his bank charges.

Cheque scam: Warwickshire businesses have reported receiving orders for goods and services, paid for by cheques which are for a higher amount than the real cost. One Warwickshire trader received a cheque for £2450 for a pilate class worth £35. The trader was asked to use the remaining money to pay for an air ticket for the ‘consumer’ and keep the rest! In reality, these cheques or either forged or stolen. The cheque initially clears and when the money appears in the traders account, the scammers hope that they will send money or pay for the air ticket. However, when the bank discovers that the cheque is bogus, the money is removed from the traders account and they have lost out!

Avoiding scams – 5 simple rules

  1. Never send money to anyone who says you’ve won the lottery
  2. Never give out your bank account details or other personal information to people you do not know or trust.
  3. Never feel pressured to respond immediately, however enticing the offer may seem.
  4. Never send money in response to bogus psychic mailings or email/computer messages
  5. If something sounds too good to be true it probably is!

Criminal gangs, (often operating from abroad), use the post, email, fax and telephone to send out millions of scams ever year. They are usually sent out indiscriminately, but those who respond are then added to special lists and targeted.

Trading Standards wants Warwickshire residents and businesses to forward any potential scam letters, emails or details of phone calls to them at the following FREEPOST address:

Scams Awareness Month 2012, FREEPOST CV1898 Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service, Old Budbrooke Road, WARWICK CV35 7BR

This information will be recorded and used to investigate the scale of the problem both in Warwickshire and across the country.

More information on scams is available on our website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/scams

You can also report a fraud to Action Fraud on: 0300 123 2040 or visit: www.actionfraud.police.uk

The Citizens Advice consumer service provides free, confidential and impartial advice on consumer issues. Visit www.adviceguide.org.uk or call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 08454 04 05 06 or 0208 1850 710 (English language).

 

 

 

 

 

New powers will effectively ‘close’ problem alcohol retailers

Businesses that persistently sell alcoholic drinks to children could lose their license to sell alcohol in a matter of a few short weeks, thanks to new powers given to Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service.

Trading Standards Officers and Warwickshire Police can now stop businesses selling alcohol for up to two weeks where the retailer is found to have made two or more sales of alcohol to children in a three month period.

For many stores that rely wholly or predominately on the sale of alcohol for their profits, such as off-licenses, preventing a retailer from selling alcohol can often have a significant effect upon a business – effectively closing it for trade.

These new powers offer Trading Standards Services the opportunity to take quick and decisive action against problem businesses, whilst still allowing officers to take a full prosecution if a business transgressed further.

Warwickshire County Councillor Richard Hobbs, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety said: “Most retailers understand the problems caused by under-age drinking, to the health of young people and in terms of anti-social behaviour in the community. They take their responsibilities seriously and ensure that children and young people cannot buy alcohol.

“However, there remains a small minority who despite education, support and warnings, continue to sell to under 18s. This new power will help us to take quick and decisive action against them which will have an effect not only on their alcohol sales, but their entire business.”

In the latest undercover test purchase exercise, 17 alcohol retailers were visited across North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth and Rugby. Businesses that were suspected of selling alcohol to children were targeted and four sales of alcohol were made to 15 year old child volunteers.

  • Nuneaton and Bedworth and North Warwickshire: 11 alcohol test purchases attempted and one sale made (in North Warwickshire).
  • Rugby: six alcohol test purchases attempted and three sales made.

Warwickshire Trading Standards uses information and intelligence gathered from local communities to target problem businesses and investigations by Warwickshire Trading Standards Service are now on-going.

  • A recent survey has revealed that 20 per cent of 13-year-olds drink alcohol at least once a week. In 2009, the Chief Medical Officer advised that under-15s should not be drinking alcohol at all.
  • Alcohol misuse is a major public health problem, placing a heavy burden on society, and affecting a large number of individuals of all ages.
  • A new national alcohol strategy was published in March 2012.
  • In Warwickshire, alcohol is key public health priority having featured in the Director of Public Health’s annual report of 2011; it is a cross-cutting priority for all four Community Safety Partnerships; and there is Warwickshire wide alcohol implementation plan supported by all key stakeholders.

Under 18?

Contact Compass Warwickshire for drug and alcohol advice, information and specialist treatment on freephone 08000 88 72 48. The service is available between the hours of 9am and 5pm. Please leave a message if your call isn’t answered – someone will get back to you.

More information from – http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/alcohol

In addition to the new powers detailed above, brought in following an amendment to the Licensing Act 2003, Trading Standards Officers also have the option to prosecute as an alternative. The offence of persistently selling alcohol to children now carries a maximum fine of £20,000 (raised from £10,000) and following conviction, a Magistrates court could suspend the retailers licence to sell alcohol for up to three months.

First car advice

Young drivers are being offered helpful advice on ‘Buying your first car’.

Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service is distributing a popular booklet entitled ‘Your guide to…Buying your first car’ to sixth form students across Warwickshire.

The booklet contains lots of useful advice on how best to shop around when looking for a new or used car, what checks you should make before you buy and information on car finance.

Buying a car can be a big purchase for a young person and Trading Standards Officers want to ensure they get it right. The booklet covers all the basics and includes useful websites for further information.

A downloadable copy of the booklet is available at: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandardsleaflets together with a range of other consumer vehicle leaflets.

Help is also available to anyone who has a car related consumer complaint.

Citizens Advice consumer service provides free, confidential and impartial advice on consumer issues. Visit www.adviceguide.org.uk or call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 08454 04 05 06 or 0208 1850 710(English language).

Don’t Let Them Con You or Someone You Know

If you have ever received a lottery ‘winners’ letter for a competition you hadn’t entered or an offer from a mystic clairvoyant to change your fortunes, (for just a few pounds), then you are one of the many thousands of people targeted each week by mass marketing scams.

May is National Scams Awareness Month and Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service wants Warwickshire residents and businesses to forward any potential scam letters, emails or details of phone calls to them at the following FREEPOST address:

FREEPOST CV1898
Warwickshire County Council
Trading Standards Service
Old Budbrooke Road
WARWICK  CV35 7BR

Mark your letter ‘Scams Awareness Month 2012’.

This information will be recorded and used to investigate the scale of the problem both in Warwickshire and across the country.

Criminal gangs, (often operating from abroad), use the post, email, fax and telephone to send out millions of scams ever year. They are usually sent out indiscriminately, but those who respond are then added to special lists and targeted.

Common Scams include:

  • Prize draw and sweepstake scams
  • Foreign lottery scams
  • Email ‘phising’ scams
  • Premium rate and telephone prize scams
  • Work at home and business opportunity scam
  • Pyramid selling and chain letter scams
  • Miracle health and slimming cure scams
  • Clairvoyant and psychic mailing scams
  • Bogus holiday clubs
  • Advanced fee frauds, and
  • Bogus business publishing offers

Warwickshire County Councillor Richard Hobbs, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety said:

“It is estimated that £3.5billion pounds each year are lost from the economy to scams and across the UK almost half the population have been targeted at one time or another.”

“Three million people in the UK fall victim to these types of scams every year.”

“Our goal throughout this month is to raise awareness of these many scams, how to spot them and how to protect vulnerable people from falling victim to them.”

“Whilst there is almost a different scam for every day of the year, there are five simple rules that everyone can follow to help avoid being scammed.”

Warwickshire Trading Standards 5 Simple Rules

  1. Never send money to anyone who says you’ve won a prize or the lottery
  2. Never give out your bank account details or other personal information to people you do not know or trust.
  3. Never feel pressured to respond immediately, however enticing the offer may seem.
  4. Never send money in response to bogus psychic mailings.
  5. If something sounds too good to be true it probably is!

More information on scams is available on our website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/scams

You can also report a fraud to Action Fraud on: 0300 123 2040 or visit: www.actionfraud.police.uk

The Citizens Advice consumer service provides free, confidential and impartial advice on consumer issues. Visit www.adviceguide.org.uk or call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 08454 04 05 06 or 0208 1850 710(English language).

  • The Office of Fair Trading estimates that over three million people in the UK fall victim to mass marketed scams every year, collectively losing £3.5billion.
  • Fewer than 5 per cent of victims report their experience – one reason the OFT and local authority Trading Standards Services carry out public reporting drives for scam mailings.
  • Research has suggested that an estimated 28 million UK consumers are targeted each year by scams, which exploit low cost, mass marketing techniques such as post, telephone, e-mail and the Internet.

What’s in your kebab?

Consumers ordering lamb curries or lamb kebabs may not get what they expect a Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service project has revealed.

Trading Standards Officers visited 20 restaurants and takeaways, at random, in Stratfordupon Avon, Leamington Spa, Nuneaton and Rugby and purchased 39 lamb curries and lamb kebabs. These were then tested to see what meat they actually contained and to check for high levels of artificial colours.

Lamb is typically the most expensive meat consumers can buy, followed by beef and pork with chicken being the cheapest. Trading Standards Officers wanted to check that consumers were getting what they expected – and paid for.

Incredibly, none of the 20 lamb kebabs sampled contained just lamb. They all contained a mixture of lamb together with either pork, beef or poultry (chicken).

Trading Standards Officers understand that some restaurants may be knowingly using chicken in their lamb kebabs as it helps to ensure the meat sticks together around the skewer during cooking.

Of the 19 lamb curries tested, only three contained just lamb. Again, most contained a mixture of lamb together with either beef or poultry (chicken).

Four lamb curries didn’t contain any lamb at all.

The foods were also checked for high levels of artificial colourings. Adults can be adversely affected by artificial colours, and in children trigger hyperactivity.

Although none of the curries were found to contain high levels of colours, 70 per cent of the kebabs tested did. One contained levels of artificial colouring that were 18 times higher than permitted, another was 13 times higher. This may be due to human error in preparation of the marinades used by the restaurants and take-aways to give the kebab colour.

Warwickshire County Councillor Richard Hobbs, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety said: “Trading Standards carry out important work to help ensure that the food we eat is correctly described and safe.”

“Consumers rely on accurate food descriptions. Some foods are not permitted to be eaten by some religions and cultures whilst some people may wish to avoid some foods because of allergy concerns.”

“Consumers should also have the confidence that if they are buying an expensive product such as lamb, that they are not getting chicken instead, a meat that is half the price.”

“Warwickshire Trading Standards will now be contacting every restaurant and takeaway involved. Further investigations are to be carried out and advice will be provided to retailers and the wholesale trade.”

Seller of fakes gets 12 months

A seller of counterfeit clothing, caught in Warwickshire and a week later in Leicestershire had been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment following a successful prosecution by Warwickshire and Leicestershire County Council’s Trading Standards Services.
At Leicester Crown Court on 30th March 2012 Parvinder Singh Pabla (aged 39) of Woodfort Road, Great Barr, Birmingham pleaded guilty to offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994.
Mr Pabla was initially caught by Warwickshire Trading Standards Officers after a vehicle he was driving was stopped in a joint Police and Trading Standards operation in October 2010. He had been travelling towards Wellesbourne market.
His vehicle was inspected and 621 items of fake designer clothing discovered including jumpers, sweaters, coats and jeans. These items were seized from Mr Pabla. They were estimated to be valued at approximately £13,500 (market value).
One week later, Officers from Leicestershire Trading Standards Service again discovered Mr Pabla selling counterfeit designer clothing at Donington Market.
Warwickshire County Councillor Richard Hobbs, Portfolio Holder for Community Protection said:

“The passing of a custodial sentence in this case illustrates that the courts take the crime of manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods very seriously.”

“The sale of fake goods threatens the livelihoods of genuine Warwickshire businesses and generates money that is then often used to fund other serious criminal activity.”

“The sellers of counterfeit goods in Warwickshire are warned that you will be caught and action taken against you.”

Warwickshire Trading Standards periodically sends the counterfeit clothing it seizes to the International Aid Trust which debrands the items and donates them to people in need across the world.