It Is Absolutely True. Crime Is Massively Down

NHW HANDOUT - FRAUD FEBRUARY 2016

As I have been saying in my messages, you will have heard the stats and seen TV programmes, saying crime is down.

It is absolutely true. Crime is massively down.

We no longer buy electronic items, which have ‘fallen off the back of a lorry’, from a 'man in the pub'. Stolen items, have virtually no resale value. I can buy a 42’’ TV from Tescos really cheaply. My Smartphone comes free with a contract. If someone is convicted and sentenced, for say burglary, the sentences are severe. Criminals, have therefore opted for an easier and much more profitable option, where the chances of getting caught are negligible - and – the chances of being identified by their targets of choice, the elderly, the vulnerable and those at risk, are the lowest. FRAUD. Comes in 4 formats

 Personal - at the door  By Telephone  By Letter  By Email

AT THE DOOR: The first issue to deal with is ‘courtesy’ and ‘politeness’. We, from our generation, have all been trained to be 'courteous, helpful to strangers and polite'. That does not mean that we have to answer the door, every time someone rings the doorbell, or pick up the phone, if they ring. When it comes to the door, just because someone has rung the bell, it is fine not to open the door, as long as they know there is someone at home. They may have rung, just to see if someone is home ?

As the winter approaches and the clocks go back, we enter the traditional point at which burglaries increase, so it will be important to use timers on lights and purchase a ‘fake TV’ (simply type fake TV into Google / Amazon), to use in an upstairs room, on the front of a house if you are out. To answer the question - ‘What lights should I leave on when I go out 1 ‘ ? It is simple. When it is dark and your house is fully occupied, go outside and take a look. That, is how your house must look, if you are going to be home after dark, or if you go out ! When my son lived at home, that was every light in the house. Children, obviously know how to turn lights on, but have never grasped the concept, of ‘turning them off’ !!!

IDs How many of you know what a meter reader’s ID looks like ?

The answer will be none. In the past, Utility suppliers used to employ their own meter readers, who wore that companies livery. Now, that is contracted out to sub, sub contractors, who work for G4. You cannot phone your Utility company, to see if they have meter readers in your area that day. They won’t know and – they won’t know the identity, of the actual readers themselves. As several companies contract the service to G4, a single meter reader, may work for several of them and be wearing several different IDs.

THE RULE IS:

NO-ONE COMES INTO YOUR HOME UNLESS YOU KNOW THEM, OR THEY HAVE MADE AN APPOINTMENT.

When it comes to Utility meter readers, the solution ‘is simples’. When your next bill arrives, phone the company ----AND SET A PASSWORD. They all provide this service – though they may need reminding. That way, if a meter reader appears on your doorstep, they say they have come top read the meter and you have set a password – Donald Duck – problem solved.

NOTTINGHAM KNOCKERS The young lads that appear on your doorstep, with large bags over their shoulders, selling household products

THE RULE IS:

EVERYONE ACROSS THE ENTIRE THAMES VALLEY, SAYS EXACTLY THE SAME THING:

I AM SORRY, I DO NOT BUY GOODS OR SERVICES AT THE DOOR

2 - THANKYOU.

You then firmly, but politely, close the door and phone the police on the 101 number.

This is a scam, to locate the elderly, vulnerable and those at risk – who have 'stashes of cash' in the house.

It works this way: You purchase something, both of you know is substandard and you are willing to pay an exorbitant price. An ideal candidate for any scam. What they are most interested in is:

 The length of time it took you to get the money  The condition of the note you use, to pay them

If it is a flat, crisp, ‘new’, note - they are interested. If it also smells musty from a drawer, they are even more interested.

If it is a crumpled note from a purse, they are not in the least interested.

Flat, crisp, musty notes that took you several minutes to bring back, means you have a ‘stash of cash’ in the house. The purpose of the whole exercise. Your address will be noted down and sold in pubs and prisons to other offenders. The lads themselves do not commit the crimes, they just get an extra payment, for every address they supply. Once your address has been sold, you will get calls from roofers, tarmaccers, tree surgeons, all sorts of people, who want to take advantage of your gullibility – and your ‘stash of cash’.

‘Courtesy & Politeness’

We are all trained to be helful, BUT:

THE RULE IS:

YOU MUST NOT ENTER INTO CONVERSATION WITH THESE LADS.

They may say to you:

3 ‘I tried the house next door, but no-one was home’ ? And you may reply:

‘OH NO, THEY ARE ON HOLIDAY IN THE CARIBBEAN FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS’ !!!!

‘OH NO, THEY WORK VERY LATE AND NEVER GET HOME BEFORE 9 P.M.’ !!!!! NOT A GOOD IDEA

CHARITY COLLECTORS This is a tricky one, as many estimable charities do go door to door collecting. They have each been told that in this area, they may be less than successful. Generally, collectors cannot be insured to carry any cash they collect when going door to door. As a result, they generally ask you to complete a monthly standing order form / direct debit.

THE RULE IS: YOU MUST NEVER GIVE ANY PERSONAL, LET ALONE YOUR BANK DETAILS, TO SOMEONE THAT COLD CALLS AT YOUR DOOR Thank them for calling, but explain, you will make your own arrangements, if they would care to leave the appropriate paperwork with you. From my discussions with the various charities, they all say, they won’t do this, due to the cost of the paperwork !!! You would not give this information to someone – a complete stranger - who leaned over in a restaurant and simply asked for it – would you ???

BOGUS BUILDERS

A real problem, which victims are very reluctant to report to us, as they feel such fools, once the scam is discovered. We generally only hear about these cases from concerned neighbours and we ask – if you see a builders van or a skip, appearing outside an elderly neighbour’s house, you ring us on the 101 number. We will very discretely arrange to walk past and ask subtle questions – particularly, if the builders van is not displaying any logos / local land line numbers. Elderly vulnerable local residents have lost many tens of thousands of pounds in this way and each says, how helpful and kind the builders were, pointing out damage to their roof, not visible from the ground. Generally the initial price quoted rises dramatically very shortly and of course, large sums of cash

4 are required up front, ‘for materials’. They generally take the victim to their bank for the cash, instructing them, not to tell the bank clerk if asked that the money, is for building work. They are told to say it is a deposit on a new car, or to pay for a cruise !!! That should be enough to alert them, but generally, they just do as they are told, and the bank have a responsibility to hand your money over to you if asked, whatever they think. Occasionallyy we are really grateful, when we do get a call from a bank / building society. A new phenomena has been, ‘builders’ approaching the elderly at bus stops or just in the street. they tell them that money is still outstanding for work they have carried out in the past and then take them to banks / cash tills, to withdraw cash. How many elderly people, can withstand 2 very large menacing looking ‘builders’.

TELEPHONE: Loads of these and many of you, will be familiar with the Windows / Microsoft / BT scam. It is impossible for those companies to know if you are running their software, nor if your computer is running slow - whatever they may say. Every computer, after a very short while ‘runs slow’. They offer to speed up your computer and run a diagnostic for you. To do this, they need you to type in a few lines of text and press 'run'. By doing this, you have allowed them to ‘proxy’ your computer and access and copy anything they want. What this does, is run a diagnostic on the front screen, for you to see. Behind that screen, they are copying everything on your hard drive. Every computer / laptop will come up with issues, if you run a diagnostic. That is the scam. There is though another part. Once they have done this and issues have shown up, they inform you, there is a charge for this service. £X for one year £XYZ price for unlimited cover. Just think - how you are going to pay this amount ??? BY CREDIT CARD. Not only do they have the contents of your hard drive, including any online banking / passwords you may have, you then hand over full details of your credit card and security number !

THE RULE IS:

IF YOU GET ONE OF THESE CALLS – DO NOT SPEAK – JUST PUT DOWN THE RECEIVER

The caller – generally an international call, hidden behind a fake UK number – has no idea if the telephone number is genuine 'live'. It is just

5 number on a list, they have purchased. If you answer, you confirm the number is genuine and it becomes much more valuable and is sold on again to other scammers.

ALARM COMPANIES Many of these offer free security surveys and to install alarm systems if you agree to part of their publicity campaigns.

THE RULE IS:

YOU MUST NOT LET ANYONE INTO YOUR HOME UNLESS YOU KNOW THEM. THEY MAY TRY AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT – RESIST !

COURIER FRAUD AND COURIER DELIVERY SCAM. Two very different scams.

We in RBWM have not had a COURIER FRAUD, for many months, but there was one elsewhere in the Thames Valley, last week. This, is where you get a call, generally from Hammersmith Police Station, from PC X number Smith. He gives you his full title. He says they have 2 lads in custody, who were arrested for illegal use of your credit card. He THEN asks you to make sure, you still have your card in your possession. He will keep you on the phone to upwards of the next 4 hours ! He keeps alarming you by letting you know another large amount of spending has appeared on your card account. He makes you panic ! He says he will cancel your card for you – please give him all the card details. He then says he will transfer you to your bank / Barclaycard Fraud Reporting Department. He says - put the phone down and then dial the number of the back of your card. He insists, you do this immediately as it is so urgent. He may panic you further, by saying more large spending has appeared on your card and you will be responsible, up until the card is reported stolen / misused.

He panics you, because he has to do this quickly. Any phone call is regulated by the caller. They make the call and in fact, terminate the call. You do not terminate a call, by putting down the receiver. If the caller does not replace their receiver, they still control your line for several minutes. You redial the card’s Fraud Department and he hands the phone, to an accomplice. The line has never been disconnected.

6 The accomplice, pretends to be the Fraud Department and he goes through all your security and passwords with you, before confirming your card has been cancelled. You are re-assured.

The original ‘policeman’, then calls back. Could they please send a courier to collect your old card which has now been cancelled – for evidence purposes. He re-assures you, by asking you to cut it in half through the middle, putting it in an envelope and handing it, to the courier he will send. This part is crucial. All your banking information, is not on the magnetic strip on the back, but in the ‘chip’. He needs the chip to be intact. He does not want you to cut through it, by mistake.

The courier calls and collects the card. They click out the chip – it is not part of the actual card. If you run your fingernail over the chip, you will see it has been set into a pre-prepared aperture. The re-set it, into a fake card and start emptying your bank account.

That is why they keep you on the phone with progress reports for so many hours. You cannot phone anyone for advice and no-one can phone you, who might offer assistance. If you do think someone is controlling your line in this way, dial a friend. If you get through - fine, if not, use another phone / mobile, to call the police immediately on the 999 number.

In one case, the ‘policeman’ phoned back to say he had received the victim's card from the courier, but the offenders, were known to have burglary connections. Did she have anything of value in the house – like jewellery ? She said....yes. He responded - the safest place for her jewellery for the time being....was the police station. If she would collect it all up and put it in a bag...... he would send a courier to collect it ! That was what she did. It got worse, when they saw the quality of her jewellery, they phoned back. Did she have anything else of value in the house ? Yes,she had some very valuable paintings. Another ‘courier was dispatched with a van to help her wrap up her painting for storage...... ‘in the police station’. She lost everything.

THE COURIER DELIVERY SCAM. Much more common at the moment and we have had several cases in the last few weeks. You receive a phone call, either before, or just after the delivery of a parcel, usually containing new mobile phones, which you did not order. The

7 man on the phone explains that there has been a terrible mistake and the parcel, has been delivered to you in error. He will send someone to collect it immediately – would you please leave it outside your front door, so that they do not have to disturb you. A man arrives, collects the parcel and drives off.

At the end of the month, you get a bill for the three phones at about £1,500. This is really serious, because you have been the victim of 'identity theft'. Generally, anything of value ordered online, must go to the home address on the credit card. That is what happens here. The fraudster has created an account in your name and ordered the phones. As they were the ones that ordered them, they can track their delivery online and be outside you house, when they arrive. In one case recently, the victim took down the car index, of the man who collected the parcel. The police checked the owner on PNC and went to the address in London. The address was real, but the householder was completely innocent. Their identities had been stolen as well. The car index and Insurance was fake, the address was fake, as was the entry on the Electoral Roll. It had been completely pre-prepared with great care in minute detail. There was no way to track / trace the offenders and the poor victim, got the bill.

THE RULE IS:

IF THIS HAPPENS TO YOU AND A PARCEL WHICH LOOKS VALUABLE, IS DELIVERED TO YOU – IN YOUR NAME – PHONE US ON THE 101 NUMBER. WE WILL WAIT WITH YOU FOR THE DELIVERY TO TAKE PLACE. IF YOU CHOSE NOT TO DO THAT, TELL THE MAN WHEN HE CALLS, YOU HAVE TAKEN THE PACKAGE TO THE LOCAL POLICE STATION – HE CAN COLLECT IT FROM THERE !!!

EMAIL: There are hundreds of these scam emails, which hit our in-boxes every day. Generally they all have certain things in common.

 They do not address you personally by name, but are addressed ‘dear resident’ / ‘customer’ or whatever.  They contain an ‘Inducement’ – you have won / results are now ready

8  They contain a ‘Threat’ – you must do something very quickly / by a certain date or......  There will be an ‘Attachment’ / file, you need to open

Please set your in-boxes to 'pre-view' mode, to show the first few lines of an email, without you having to open it. If it comes from someone you don’t know – BIN IT.

THE RULE IS:

YOU MUST NEVER OPEN ATTACHMENTS – EVER - IN EMAILS YOU ARE NOT EXPECTING.

If you open the attachment – whatever the urgency / inducement, you will regret it. Often it instals encryption software onto your computer, which prevents you accessing anything, until you pay a ransom, to receive the encryption key.

One, recently purported to come from ‘NICE’. It explained that you, the recipient, had recently undergone blood tests. Unfortunately, the results show cancerous cells. Please immediately download the ‘attachment’ which contains the results and make an appointment with your doctor, to go through the possible results and treatment. A horrific scam email which caused enormous worry.

I have recently been receiving one on my work email which simply states that the ‘attached invoice' is still outstanding, when can they expect to receive payment ! You would have to open the attachment to see what it was all about.

Please see the warning from the courts below. If you are concerned about any attachment, simply run your curser over the link. Whatever it actually says, a small box will appear showing the true destination – it may be very different.

LETTERS: Again, these arrive every day. Most of us will have received – many times – the Chinese scam letter from Mr. Hua Hin about a possible relative, who has died in Hong Kong, leaving millions. He will help you get the money !

I have been working closely with Paul Westgate from 'HOME INSTEAD' and we have both been doing presentations relating to ‘Think Jessica’. Jessica, was a real person, who started to fill out competitions she received. She became obsessed and started sending off admin fees. Very quickly, she was receiving thousands of letters each month asking for money. Her family were unable to convince her, they were scams.

THE RULE IS:

YOU MUST NOT ENTER INTO ANY CORRESPONDENCE WITH THESE PEOPLE. NEVER RESPOND – BIN THEM – IF YOU DO, LIKE THE PHONE CALLS, YOU SHOW THE ADDRESS IS A ‘LIVE ONE’ AND WORTH PURSUING – IT WILL BE SOLD TO OTHER SCAMMERS

Finally – the poor grammar and spelling, is intentional. They are not mistakes. They do not want to target clever / sharp people. They only want to engage the vulnerable. Hence the poor English – we self select ourselves out and bin them. The vulnerable respond !!!

THE RULE IS: DO NOT LET ANY OF THIS AFFECT YOU !

DO NOT BE A VICTIM AND DO NOT FALLFOR ANY OF THESE SCAMS. EVERY TIME – TAKE TIME TO THINK – DO NOT BE PANICKED INTO RESPONDING IMMEDIATELY AND UNWISELY

Eyes and Ears...... and Brain.

Jeffrey Pick Watch Administrator RBWM [email protected] [email protected]