Carmarthenshire scam mail campaign continues
Householders in Carmarthenshire are being offered the opportunity to offload their scam mail this month.
Carmarthenshire Trading Standards Service and the Office of Fair Trading have a Scamnesty campaign running until February 26.
They are promoting awareness by encouraging people to drop their scam mail into local Scamnesty collections located around the county such as local libraries.
Mass marketed scams are a problem in Carmarthenshire and across the UK.
They can take the form of bogus and fraudulent offers sent by post, telephone or email. Fake lottery and prize draw wins, bogus psychic predictions, get-rich-quick investment cons, membership offers and 'miracle' health cures are just some of the tricks used by scammers.
Nearly half of the UK adult population has been targeted by a scam, and more than three million adults - one in 15 people - fall victim to scams, losing a total of £3.5 billion every year simply because they bought a nonexistent product or disclosed their personal details and banking information.
Email is now the most common scam approach - 73 per cent of adults have received a
scam email in the past year. This is followed by scams via a letter (21 per cent) and via text message (12 per cent). Social media sites appear to be emerging as a new route for scammers with nine per cent of adults having received an approach this way.
Three in 10 adults who responded to a scam then received further correspondence from the scammer, with over half (54 per cent) being asked to send money, and a third (36 per cent), being asked to send personal information.
There are Scamnesty pages on Consumer Direct which include an e-bin for email scams and a postal bin locator. This will allow people to search for their nearest Scamnesty bins by postcode.
Council executive board member for housing and public protection Cllr Hugh Evans said: “Our Citizens’ Panel has told us that this is one of their major concerns and that we should be taking action to deal with it.
“The Scamnesty campaign offers an excellent opportunity for people in Carmarthenshire to get rid of scam mail they have had delivered to the house.
“We can then analyse it to identify the source and take appropriate action.”
The council’s drop-off points are the Customer Service Centres in Ammanford Town Hall; Spilman Street, Carmarthen, and Ty Elwyn, Llanelli; and in Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford Libraries.
Age Concern Sir Gâr has a drop-off point at its premises in Murray Street, Llanelli, and the Citizens Advice Bureaux in Iscennen Road, Ammanford; Cowell Street, Llanelli, and Lammas Street, Carmarthen.
See earlier post -
http://sirgarblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/carmarthenshire-scam-mail-help.html
Carmarthenshire Trading Standards Service and the Office of Fair Trading have a Scamnesty campaign running until February 26.
They are promoting awareness by encouraging people to drop their scam mail into local Scamnesty collections located around the county such as local libraries.
Mass marketed scams are a problem in Carmarthenshire and across the UK.
They can take the form of bogus and fraudulent offers sent by post, telephone or email. Fake lottery and prize draw wins, bogus psychic predictions, get-rich-quick investment cons, membership offers and 'miracle' health cures are just some of the tricks used by scammers.
Nearly half of the UK adult population has been targeted by a scam, and more than three million adults - one in 15 people - fall victim to scams, losing a total of £3.5 billion every year simply because they bought a nonexistent product or disclosed their personal details and banking information.
Email is now the most common scam approach - 73 per cent of adults have received a
scam email in the past year. This is followed by scams via a letter (21 per cent) and via text message (12 per cent). Social media sites appear to be emerging as a new route for scammers with nine per cent of adults having received an approach this way.
Three in 10 adults who responded to a scam then received further correspondence from the scammer, with over half (54 per cent) being asked to send money, and a third (36 per cent), being asked to send personal information.
There are Scamnesty pages on Consumer Direct which include an e-bin for email scams and a postal bin locator. This will allow people to search for their nearest Scamnesty bins by postcode.
Council executive board member for housing and public protection Cllr Hugh Evans said: “Our Citizens’ Panel has told us that this is one of their major concerns and that we should be taking action to deal with it.
“The Scamnesty campaign offers an excellent opportunity for people in Carmarthenshire to get rid of scam mail they have had delivered to the house.
“We can then analyse it to identify the source and take appropriate action.”
The council’s drop-off points are the Customer Service Centres in Ammanford Town Hall; Spilman Street, Carmarthen, and Ty Elwyn, Llanelli; and in Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford Libraries.
Age Concern Sir Gâr has a drop-off point at its premises in Murray Street, Llanelli, and the Citizens Advice Bureaux in Iscennen Road, Ammanford; Cowell Street, Llanelli, and Lammas Street, Carmarthen.
See earlier post -
http://sirgarblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/carmarthenshire-scam-mail-help.html
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