West Mercia Police

Crime Prevention Advice PHONE SCAMS

PCSO Alexander and PCSO Ashby have attended various groups in Ledbury over the last few months and given scam awareness talks.

The police take phone scams very seriously. Criminals will often use scam phone calls as a way of defrauding people out of their money.

On most occasions, people realise that the call is a scam, but we are encouraging people to continue be vigilant.

What to look out for Typically scammers will pretend to be from the police, and tell callers that their bank cards have been used fraudulently. Often the callers have stated that they are from the MET police, but they have been known to claim that they are from West Mercia Police, MI6 or the fraud squad. They will often say that they have the offenders in custody.

Usually they will then ask the victim to contact their bank to cancel their cards. In doing so, they will 'hold the line', so the victim believes that they are calling their bank, when in fact they are still on the line to the offenders.

They will then encourage the victims to hand over their bank details, including their PIN which they will often ask them to enter into the keypad of the phone.

Following this they will say that the cards are needed and send a courier to collect them. Sometimes they will ask the victims to give a password which the courier will use to make it appear more genuine. Consequently the offenders have been able to withdraw money from victim's accounts.

On other occasions, rather than sending a courier, they have asked the victims to transfer money to a secure police account, asking them to call back to verify that they are genuine, whilst holding the line.

Sometimes the scammers have told the victims to attend the bank to transfer money but told them that bank employees are involved in the scam, so not to mention it to them.

What to do We offer the following advice to protect you from these scams: t
Remember: police officers and banks will never ask for account details or PINs over the phone.

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Police officers and banks would never come to your house to collect your cards or property.

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They would also never ask you to transfer money to a secure account.

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If you receive a call like this, hang up immediately and call 101 using another phone. In an emergency or if a crime is in progress call 999.

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If you have elderly friends or relatives who may be vulnerable to this scam, please talk to them and make them aware.

Garden & Shed Security As spring approaches, many people across West Mercia will be turning their attention to the garden, others will be taking out their bikes to enjoy the warmer weather, or preparing the BBQ.

Many people store their gardening equipment, tools, bikes and BBQ s in their shed and, unfortunately, this means that these outbuildings are often seen as an easy target by thieves.

The basics of protecting your home and garden Thieves will generally take the easiest option when considering breaking into a shed, outbuilding or home, and security measures, such as a side gate and motionactivated lighting, can deter the would-be thief.

However, there are other ways to protect your home and garden. Gravel paths and drives are a fantastic way of cheaply and unobtrusively discouraging a thief from entering your garden. Gravel makes a loud noise when stepped on which carries well at night and may wake the home owners, neighbours or a dog. This is instantly off-putting to a thief.

Another way to protect your home is to plant prickly hedging around the perimeter of your garden.

How much are the contents of your shed worth? We have had a number of items stolen from sheds across the rural areas recently.

When asked what is in their shed many people will answer something like 'Just a few old tools', 'A bit of fishing tackle', 'The kids toys', 'Nothing much, just junk'. Because people think that the contents of their shed have little value they pay little attention to shed security. But what if you had to replace the contents of your shed, just how much would it cost?

Write a list and add up exactly what you do keep in your shed and the replacement cost, but beware you may be in for a shock as it is sometimes the case that the value of property people keep in their shed adds up to more than the value of the property in their living room.

Is the security on your shed really up to the job? Follow these few simple guidelines to reduce the chances of your shed falling prey to thieves. 9 Keep your shed in good condition

9 Fit a good quality closed shackle padlock to the door.

9 Hasp and staples should be bolted through the door.

9 Secure the hinges by using either clutch screws or by replacing a couple of the screws with bolts.

9 Fit grilles or mesh to the windows.

9 Old net curtains on the inside of the windows can hide the contents of your shed.

9 Invest in an alarm.

9 Large items such as bicycles should be chained together. It is much more difficult for a thief to carry away a lot of large heavy items all at once.

9 Mark your property with your postcode and house number/name.

9 Register your property at www.immobilise.com

Remember the tools and equipment you keep in your shed could be used to force entry into your home, causing you even more expense and hassle.

Don't give thieves shed loads of opportunities!

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