SCAMALOT

Hampshire's Country Watch Police Service is warning people about the following:

• Be cautious of doorstep sellers: the police are aware of reports of callers selling cleaning items at the door. On at least one occasion people have bought items, paid by cheque but later found that the cheque had been altered for a larger amount
• If doorstep sellers are persistent even though you have refused, please call the Police on 101 to make them aware of the problem
• When the good weather arrives, be aware that leaving windows open downstairs at night is not safe. This gives an open invite to any person passing who may be not as honest as most, to enter your home while you are asleep (or out in your back garden in the daytime) to help themselves. For those of you who live in a ground floor flat or a bungalow the advice is to make sure that your windows and doors are secure when going out or at night.
• If anyone notices ?Hamilton Drives? doing any driveway work or cold calling in and around the area please report it to 101 or 999 in an emergency. Please also contact trading standards on 01962 833666 (manned Monday - Friday from 9am- 5pm).
• Businesses should be wary when contacted for the sale of goods or services by fraudsters, who request to pay by cheque. The fraudster sends a cheque with a higher value than the amount expected, and then sends the business a request for the difference with instructions on how it should be paid back. This is usually by bank transfer or through a money transfer service but once the 'refund' has been provided, it is realised that the cheque provided was fraudulent and no funds are credited to the business's account.
• The NFIB has seen an increase of 84% in the number of counterfeit cheque frauds reported to Action Fraud since November 2015. Criminals are targeting a wide range of services including paintings or other artwork, photography and lessons, with various amounts requested to be refunded. The average amount requested to be refunded is £1,818. The highest amount requested was over £80,000.
• The suspects have used pressure tactics to persuade victims to refund the amounts immediately prior to the cheques clearing so everyone should be cautious of payments where the amount provided is higher than expected and refuse to provide the service unless the correct balance is received or wait until the cheque has cleared before refunding the difference.

• A new fraud involves an angry HMRC representative demanding monies for an unpaid tax bill. They are intimidating, threatening and many people have understandably been left feeling upset and worried. Quite often they will demand that the victim buys iTunes vouchers to re pay, or they may use different tactics similar to courier fraud where the victim has to withdraw cash or hand over their card. Another take is to transfer money into a fake bank account, where it is never seen again

• People are reminded to protect themselves using the following advice: never give out any personal information about your bank account to anybody over the phone, the police and any other professional organisation such as HMRC, banks etc. will NEVER EVER ask you for these types of details; If the caller asks you to ring them back so you can be sure of their identification, hang up and call the company they are claiming to be from using a different phone. If you can't use a different phone, wait at least five minutes before calling back; If you have given out information which could compromise your bank account security in any way, call your bank up to cancel your cards as soon as possible; Never hand over money to someone at the door to be sent off elsewhere; If someone comes to your door claiming to be from a company or organisation, always ask for identification and make a note of their identification number. Ask them to wait while you verify their identity. Close the door, find the number of the company they claim to be from and call the company to verify their ID; Consider using the Priority Services Register to set up a password for callers from utility companies. Contact your supplier to talk about this simple process, and it's free. 

• Anyone who is concerned about similar incidents should contact police by calling 101. If a crime is in progress, please call 999.

• If you have been affected by this, or any other scam, report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk