24 October 2016

Thanks to Bexley Neighbourhood Watch for the following warnings :

(1) BOGUS TRADING STANDARDS OFFICER

A bogus Trading Standards officer is preying on victims of rogue traders. He is giving his name as Barry Harper and wearing photo ID stating that he is a Trading Standards officer. He is claiming that traders have been caught, are due in court the following day and the consumer is entitled to compensation. He told one consumer that they were needed as a witness and needed to draw out £4000 to show the judge but would get the money back. Barry Harper does not work for Trading Standards and they would never ask people for money.

Bexley Trading Standards are very concerned by this and would advise any consumer that is contacted by anyone claiming they are from Trading Standards to phone 07716 116452 to confirm that is the case.

(2) APPLE / ITUNES EMAIL SCAM

This iTunes email scam and similar have been going around for some time and continue to do so as reported by a resident of the Borough recently:

"This week I received the attached invoice, allegedly from Apple, and have checked that it is a new form of scam. Last night I met a friend who had received this week exactly the same invoice and had also confirmed with Apple that it is a scam. In the 'unsubscribe' facility they ask for my credit card details, bank account details and even my mother's maiden name. A less suspecting recipient could easily be duped by this scam, as it purports to relate to an ongoing monthly charge for music downloads. Can you please make the public aware of this attack on their privacy?"

Please be aware of this and all those similar emails invoicing for money: Mark as spam / dispose of to your Trash folder!