Dear All,
It has come to my attention over the last couple of weeks that
all types of companies are using aggressive/overly persuasive sales
pitches to try to encourage homeowners to purchase whatever it is they
are selling. The companies may be totally legitmate and because
of the recession they are trying extra hard to make a sale, however
some may not be and to this end I would like to reiterate a few points
regarding cold calling and telephone sales, bogus callers and scams.
Cold Calling - at the door or on the
phone
If someone knocks on your door and tries to sell you something
you are perfectly within your rights to firmly say no thank you and
close the door. You do not have to listen to the sales patter,
you do not have to accept literature and you must certainly NEVER give
personal information out over the doorstep.
If it is a cold call over the telephone you are entitled to say a
firm no thank you and hang up. Again, NEVER give personal details over
the phone.
As with any purchase there is a cooling off period so if you have
purchased something that you do not feel 100% comfortable about, please
remember you can cancel.
If you are at all concerned about the caller (phone or door)
and/or feel upset or intimidated please let Trading Standards or the
Police know.
You can arrange with Neighbourhood Watch or Trading Standards to
make your road a No Cold Calling Zone, to do this please speak with
your local NW co-ordinator, local Trading Standards office or your
local Beat officers should be able to point you in the right direction.
If you do make an appointment, whether as a result of a
cold-call or not, ensure you get the details of the sales person who
attends your premises. Then, should any follow up action be required
the Police or Trading Standards are in a far stronger position to help
if they have a name to report.
Bogus Callers
Bogus callers can be very plausable and I cannot give you a
description of one as they come in all guises, however the same advice
goes, if you haven't arranged for someone from a particular
company/service to call at your door, then either don't open
the door in the first place or if you do wish to open the door
to speak to the caller, check their identity out by taking any id
card/paperwork offered and then - close the door and call the 'supposed
company' - to check that they have sent someone round - don't call the
number on the id card/paperwork, use the phone book and call the
registered telephone number of the company. Only when you are
100% satisfied that your caller is genuine should you let someone into
your home.
Most companies nowadays offer a password to homeowners if they
are due to call at your home to ensure that the company is not mis
represnted and that the homeowner feels safe. If you are
arranging for someone to call at your home, ask for a password as an
extra safeguard.
If someone knocks on the door asking for help (lost ball, broken
down car, lost cat etc) then take the details, close the door and say
you will go and look for the ball, ring a garage, look for the cat etc,
do not let unknown people into your home.
Scams
Scams can come in all sorts of guises, telephonically,
electronically or through the post. As with any scam they are
trying to get money out of you. Any kind of scam that you come
across should be sent to Trading Standards, their Scamnesty email
address is: - scamnesty@hants.gov.uk or please call Trading
Standards and speak to them directly including all information that you
can give/remember.
If something comes through that sounds to good to be true - it
usually is!
Not all homeowners have succumbed to these kinds of opportunistic
crime, and my aim is not to instill a fear of crime but merely stress
that you do not have to open your door if you feel uneasy, you do not
have to let unknown people into your home, you do not have to arrange a
visit from a company because you feel pressurised. If you are
concerned about whether you need extra security or have a crime
prevention query, please speak with your local beat officers who will
happily advise you, alternatively speak with your local Neighbourhood
Watch co-ordinator who may be able to point you in the right direction.
As always, should you have a problem, please let us know.
Kind regards
Sue
Gibson
Force
Neighbourhood
Watch
Co-ordinator
Partnerships
&
Neighbourhoods
Service
Delivery
Department
Hampshire
Constabulary
0845
0454545 ext 603290
CRIMESTOPPERS:
0800
555111
Please see warning from Trading Standards below.
Kind regards
Sue Gibson
Force
Neighbourhood
Watch
Co-ordinator
Partnerships
&
Neighbourhoods
Service
Delivery
Department
Hampshire
Constabulary
0845
0454545 ext 603290
CRIMESTOPPERS:
0800
555111
Subject:
'BT'
Scam
(received
by
us
from a reliable source)
"I received a call from a
'representative' of BT, informing me that he was disconnecting me
because of an
unpaid bill. He demanded payment immediately of £31.00 , or it would be
£
118.00 to reconnect at a later date.
The caller wasn't even fazed when I told him I was with Virgin Media,
allegedly
VM have to pay BT a percentage for line rental!
I asked his name - the very 'English' John Peacock with a very
'African' accent
- & phone number - 0800 0800 152. (this could change of
course).
Obviously he realised I wasn't believing his story, so offered to
demonstrate
that he was from BT. I asked how & he told me to hang up & try
phoning
someone - he would disconnect my phone to prevent this.
AND HE DID!! My phone was dead - no engaged tone, nothing - until he
phoned me
again. I think they keep their phone off the hook
Very pleased with himself, he asked if that was enough proof that he
was with
BT. I asked how the payment was to be made & he said credit card,
there
& then.
I said that I didn't know how he'd done it, but I had absolutely no
intention of
paying him, I didn't believe his name or that he worked for BT.
He hung up.
Did 1471 & phoned his fictitious 0800 number - not recognised."
Please be very cautious
when
speaking on the telephone. You have no guarantee they are who
they say
they are. If you are left anxious after a call, use one of your
own bills
to obtain the telephone number of the organisation and ring them to ask
if they
made have tried to make contact with you.
If
you no longer wish to be part of
this early warning network, please reply to this email and include the
contact
details you wish to be removed.
Community
Projects Team
Hampshire County Council Trading
Standards
Service
Montgomery House Monarch Way
Winchester
Hampshire SO22
5PW
Tel: 01962 833620
Fax: 01962 833698
E-mail: doorstep.crime@hants.gov.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
16/09/2009
Mobile
phone scam
Dear
All,
Please
see
the
following
scam
information
from Basingstoke Police
Intelligence. I myself got caught with this only yesterday and I
should know better.
I
have today rung BT following the revelation of this scam and asked
the cost to me for returning the call, I was lucky and it did not cost
me a fortune, however, BT stated that the call can cost differing
amounts dependent on which tariff/company you are using.
Please
be
careful
of
these
scams,
whilst they are prevalent on mobile
and residential phones use the advice below and do not call back a
number you do not recognise, if it is urgent and legitimate - they will
call you back.
Kind regards
Sue Gibson
Force
Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator
Partnerships
& Neighbourhoods
Service
Delivery Department
Hampshire
Constabulary
0845 0454545 ext
603290
CRIMESTOPPERS: 0800
555111
From
Police
Intelligence
Can
you
circulate
a
warning
in
relation to 0844 numbers. There are many
scams where companies will ring mobiles for up to two rings leaving a
missed call on your phone. If you dial the number to find out who it is
you may well get an answer phone message which will cost you anything
up to about £10.
One
of
the
latest
companies
doing
this is one called management15, the
answerphone states they are MI5.
If
you
are
not
sure
who
the call is from do not ring it back especially
08 numbers.
This
is
becoming
quiet
prevalent
at
the moment!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Security
information Companies
From:
sue.gibson@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
To:
undisclosed-recipients
Sent: Monday, July
27, 2009 12:48 PM
Subject: Security
information Companies
Dear All,
If any of your
Neighbourhood Watch members are considering installing security systems
there is
some advice from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that
may be of
assistance to homeowners in deciding which route to take.
I have copied the information and pasted it below which I hope
you will
find useful. Please ensure that all
your members are aware of this advice.
As always should you
have any queries please let me know.
Thank you
Kind regards
Sue Gibson
Force Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator
Partnerships & Neighbourhoods
Service Delivery Department
Hampshire Constabulary
0845 0454545 ext 603290
CRIMESTOPPERS: 0800 555111
APPENDIX H
POLICE ADVICE TO
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
SEEKING INFORMATION
ON SECURITY COMPANIES
To obtain
information
on companies who supply and install security systems such as Intruder
Alarms /
Personal Attack Alarms / CCTV systems etc., within your locality, we
advise you
contact the following Independent Inspectorate Bodies who will furnish
you with
the relevant details (the Police are not able to provide this
information):
-
NSI (National
Security Inspectorate)
Sentinel House, 5
Reform Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 8BY
Tel: 01628 637512
Fax: 01628 773367
E-mail: nsi@nsi.org.uk
Website: www.nsi.org.uk
SSAIB (Security
Systems & Alarm Inspection Board)
Suite 3, 131 Bedford
Street, North Shields, Tyne & Wear NE29
6LA.
Tel: 0191 296 3242
Fax: 0191 296 2667
E-mail: ssaib@ssaib.co.uk
Website: www.ssaib.org
Independent
Inspectorates are not-for-profit approval bodies who carry out
inspection
services for the security industry and protect customer interests. They
themselves are governed by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service),
the sole
accreditation service recognised by the Government.
Please note - if you
are also planning to invest in the type of security system that would
receive
automatic police response to its alarm activations, then only security
companies
‘Approved’ by an Independent Inspectorate Body and who are Listed with
the
Police Force in your locality are permitted to offer this service.
Once you have
obtained details from an Independent Inspectorate Body of ‘Approved’
security companies, who install security systems in your locality to
the
required European/British Standards, compliant with the ACPO
(Association of
Chief Police Officers) Police Response to Security Systems Policy, we
advise: -
1. Before disclosing personal security details, check the
address and
credentials of the company and proof of identify from their
representative.
2. You obtain written quotations from at least two
security
companies.
3. Ask if the security company representative can
provide
you with a list of police rules for occupiers of ‘monitored’ alarmed
premises and also written confirmation that they are currently
registered with
the Police Force in your area, for the transmission of alarm
activations from
new installations?
4. You ensure that the quotation specifies that
the
installation will be to European/British Standards for that relevant
security
system. Also, does it include the terms of maintenance and monitoring
contracts?
5. Does the company operate a 24-hour call-out
service and
emergency attendance within four hours?
6. Is the installation of a security system a
requirement of
my insurance company and if so, is the security company acceptable to
my
insurer?
PLEASE NOTE - When
investing in Security Systems for your home or business it’s not
advisable to
deal with Cold Callers or telesales enquiries – you should avoid doing
doorstep or telephone business. Many
Traders who call at your door are honest and genuine, however, some are
not and
can be extremely persuasive. Examples of bad practices associated with
cold-calling and door-step selling include - pressure selling, unclear
contracts, over priced security systems and unduly raising the fear of
crime. If
members of the public have serious doubts about the legality or sales
techniques
being employed by this type of security company, they should contact
the Police
or Trading Standards for advice.
For further
information on intruder alarm advice for domestic properties visit
www.securedbydesign.com and
www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/watch
02/09/2010
Force
Co-ordinators Newsletter Autumn 2010