Watch out for Scams

Scamnesty is here!

This year the nationwide campaign Scamnesty will be taking place between 1- 26 February 2010.

Everyone likes to receive letters, but imagine receiving up 60 a day all demanding money. And imagine staying up until the early hours writing out cheques only to go through the same the following day. Sadly millions of people every year are scammed and that’s why Portsmouth City Council is backing national scamnesty month 1 - 26 February. Residents are urged to bring along any scam mailings they’ve received and dump them in any of our scam bins located across the city.

Every year 3 million people fall victim to scams and this costs the UK a total of £3.5 billon. Scamnesty therefore is a campaign to make people aware of the devastating consequences, both financial and psychological that scams have on their victims.

The last campaign was extremely successful and Portsmouth residents in total deposited over 300 scam mailings in them. Details of the scams were then passed onto the Scambusters team run by The Office of Fair Trading. This year we want to do bigger and better!

Community trading standards officers will be out and about hosting events and giving talks to help prevent the people of Portsmouth from falling victim to scams, however we would like to involve all our partners and local residents! So we are asking for your help. Please keep any scam emails/letters that you may receive and spread the word to your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. We are urging for you to drop your scams in the bins located around the city. Bins can be found at the following locations:

Civic Offices
Central Library
Carnegie Library
North End Library
Cosham Library
Buckland Community Centre
John Pounds Centre
Southsea Community Centre
The Salvation Army Albert Road
Drayton and Farlington Information Centre
Paulsgrove Healthy Living Centre
Havelock Community Centre
Friendship House

We also have a dedicated scam 'e-bin' so you can forward any scam emails or report a scam directly to us. The email address is scams@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

If you would like to locate your nearest bin click here!

Here are some top tips to avoid becoming a victim of scams.

Never reply straight away to an offer. Allow time to think about it. Shop around for the best quote. If possible, get three quotes before you commit yourself.
Never send money to anyone telling you you’ve have won a lottery or a prize draw. You won’t ever see the "winnings".
Never give your bank account details or any other personal information to people you don’t know.
Never reply to an email, apparently from your bank, asking for your personal and bank details.
Never ring an 090 number unless you know how much the call will cost you. It is a premium rate number and could charge you around £1.50 per minute.
If you get approached by someone handing you a scratchcard telling you that you have won a “luxury holiday” ask yourself if you are prepared to sit through a lengthy sales pitch.

If you think you've been ripped off contact Consumer Direct.

Scams are scheming, crafty, aggressive and malicious. Don’t Let Them Con You!

And remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!