County Council Trading Standards launch Scam Awareness Month

30 January 2008

Bedfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service is encouraging Bedfordshire residents to get scam smart through the Office for Fair Trading Scam Awareness Month (SAM).

For the whole of February the service will be taking part in a number of activities to make sure residents can tell the difference between a scam and genuine mail coming through their letterbox.

Cllr Bob King, Bedfordshire County Council Cabinet member for Community Services, said: " Scams can be recognised because they are received out of the blue, they promise something for nothing and they want money up front.

"Typical scams are fake prize draw and lotteries, bogus clairvoyant or psychic predictions, get rich quick schemes or miracle health cures. The scams play on the hopes, fears or superstitions of consumers.

"Scammers are getting cleverer by the second with fancy logos, letters and leaflets. Yet local people should always be on their guard and we hope that Scam Awareness Month will make them very savvy to these con-artists."

Bedfordshire residents are being urged to take part in a ‘Scamnesty’ and take any scam mail to their local library during the whole of February. At the end of February, Trading Standards officers will collect all scam mail and will forward it onto the OFT for further investigation. They do not need all of your junk mail, just the letters that you believe are scams .

Cllr King continues: "Don’t let these scammers get away with taking money off innocent people. Put it to good use and take it down to your local library

"I have said it before, and I will say it again - if it looks to good to be true then it probably is!"

If residents cannot get to their local library during February, they can report scams to Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.

ENDS