We get around 30 reports of scams a week, warn police
Friday 25th November 2011, 2:29PM GMT.
Richard Carr from Trading Standards, left, and Crime Reduction Advisor Andy Goodall have warned about the various scams currently targeting islanders. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 1201683)
POLICE are receiving around 30 reports of phone and internet scams every week, crime reduction officer Andy Goodall has said.
Elderly islanders living independently are most likely to be repeat victims.
‘These so-called silver surfers can, by their nature, be too trusting,’ Mr Goodall explained.
‘Such people who have been affected might be too embarrassed to come forward to their families or the authorities – it makes them a target for repeat incidences.’
Mr Goodall suspected that on top of the 30 calls per week, there were likely to be many more incidents, many concerning victims who did not want to admit it.
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In this technological day and age one would hope a small island like ours could make a stand and design something to target these prolific fraudsters instantly.
It would require little from the police and telephone providers.
Rather than constantly whinge about it, I would rather see a solution put in place to combat the problem.
This is similar to the problems with the local ever increasing junkie population. The current system rewards them and helps them thrive rather than tackle the actual problem head on and punish them for their filthy pilfering habits.
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Agree with you Local. I was swamped with nuisance calls on a phone number previously used by an old lady who had lived on her own. She must have fallen for something and had been put on a “suckers list”. Sad name but that is what they call it in the trade. I’m not in that dispicable trade but do come from an IT background so know how these poor victims are circulated to scammers worldwide. C & W were worse than hopeless and would only offer to bar all international calls. No help with family abroad who would have had all their calls to us blocked. The scammers use call centres that generate false international numbers in any country they please using internet telephone systems. They are very difficult to trace but there must be some solutions out there if the phone company would put some research into it. It is up to our telephone providers to provide a service that includes blocking known scammers from automated dialling and getting their hands on the local phone book. We ended up changing our number but I suspect the poor old lady before had been conned on multiple occaisions.C&W – pull your finger out!!
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Just send in the armed police, that seems to be their answer for everything these days.
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Do you mean that people really believe someone when they phone up barely able to speak English and tell you that they are from Microsoft and they have found out there is a problem with your computer?
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I have also received those phone calls…. last time they called me I had them on the phone for roughly 25+ minutes. I told them that if they carried on with the call then I’d initiate an IP backtrace to their number and passing this information onto the Interpol Cyber Crimes division.
One of my favourite thing is scam-baiting, if (as I’ve had before) I get a call and they ask me how many TV’s I have in my house and what make they are, I usually ask which house they want to know about as I have 3. I tell them I have 1 in every room in the house so about 29 in my main house, but the main TV is a Fuc*youofah. I also have 5 in my boat and am going to be installing 4 in my private jet.
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Nuisance calls from GB can be banned (forget how but thinks through TPS, try a search for it)
Sad a lot seem to come from elsewhere, if the person has an Indian accent just hang up! And that is not being racial, just where many come from.
If you are listed in a telephone directory, anyone can access that for your number, address, name etc. Going ex directory might solve this
Email hmmph! Well, don’t have any idea who sent it, simple delete without opening.
A silver surfer bitten once (malware) 2x shy
Thinking time ~~
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Many of these scams entice people into phoning very expensive premium telephone numbers such as one recently I heard of which cost c.£15 immediately on connection. Whilst it might be difficult to apprehend particular scammers based overseas where corrupt regimes are uncooperative, surely we could bar calls to certain extortionate telephone codes? Any company providing legitimate services should charge customers specific amounts via credit card rather than a £x per minute phone call. Telecoms companies could stamp out much of this fraud instantly if they were forced to, instead they generally get half of the money people are conned out of.
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30 ? Thats nearly the number of Police scams we read about every week.
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Yawn
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this man in the pub told me he was a doctor, and I should remove my clothes and he would check me for lice.
could this have been a scam?
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dejavu
I had exactly the same thing happen to me in the Bridge Chinese Takeaway expect the guy wanted to check me for rice
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dejavu
I’m blowed if my cousin hasn’t just phoned me to say he had popped in to SportingBet and this same guy wanted to check him for dice
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I’ve just got back from town and there was this very large black and white cat wanting me to empty my pockets and strip. It wanted to check me for mice….
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polar bear just wanted to check me for ice…
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Some old man at the top of Mill Street asking if I was interested in vice?
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sarnia expat
At what price?
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Can I report Social Security and their Ponzi scam where they are taking money out of my salary, without my consent, with the false promise of a pension when I ‘retire’ ?????
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Thats thrice
Anymore would be nice
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A posh policeman popped around the other day .. he wanted to check out my ‘hice’
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I was told by a man walking a dog that cp joe would win the 2.10 at Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton 2.10 Full Result
1st 6 Squad 6-1
2nd 10 C P Joe (IRE) 9-2 F
Another scam uncovered,who needs guernsey police?
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The plot thickens
TODAY
Southwell 2.00 Full Result
1st 7 C P Joe (IRE) 3-1
2nd 1 Ay Tay Tate (IRE)
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PB – Do you reckon CP stands for Chief of Police?
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Not all the States Members involved weekly then..
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The biggest scam is Flybe and Aurigny their card charges and what is our Government and police doing about it! Sorry the police are too busy playing Rambo!!!
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I had a email yesterday suggesting the exodus wasnt real,another email scam exposed.
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I had one from Moses who assured me it was.
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