Bin the scam Wokingham mailings as part of scamnesty
Wokingham borough residents are being urged to say good riddance to all scam mailings.
Wokingham Borough Council’s Trading Standards team has joined forces with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to crack down on scam mailings circulating in the area, by asking all residents to put any potential scam mail into a Scamnesty Bin.
The specially marked Scamnesty Bins are located at Wokingham Borough Council’s Civic Offices in Shute End, Wokingham and at all Wokingham Borough Council Libraries.
The Scamnesty campaign, will be running from February 5 to 27 and is part of Scams Awareness Month, which will run throughout February across the country.
Wokingham Borough Council’s trading standards team are frequently alerted to potential scam mailings. Nationally scam mail costs residents, businesses and organisations £3.5billion a year.
Mass mail scams are usually in the form of lotteries, deceptive prize draws, fake psychics, get-rich-quick schemes, sweep-stakes and miracle health cures. They are usually sent through the post but can be made via email or over the phone and target elderly or vulnerable people.
Research by the OFT suggests that only five per cent of scam mailing is reported to Trading Standards so the leaflets and other mail shots collected in the special bins could provide essential information in catching scammers and preventing other people from becoming a victim.
Cllr Barrie Patman, executive member for Wokingham community safety, said: “Mail scams are a particularly cruel way of getting vulnerable or elderly people to part with their cash for a service which is either non-existent or not what is advertised.
“If we all bin these leaflets it will give us the opportunity to crack down on those people preying on the vulnerable.”
Mike Haley, OFT Director of Consumer Protection, added: “We want to empower the public to help beat the scammers by participating in the Scamnesty campaign. Any scam mailings that are dropped in the bins could be vital in gathering intelligence on the latest scams and in stopping the worst offenders from continuing to bring misery to thousands of vulnerable people each year.”
Wokingham Borough Council’s Trading Standards team has joined forces with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to crack down on scam mailings circulating in the area, by asking all residents to put any potential scam mail into a Scamnesty Bin.
The specially marked Scamnesty Bins are located at Wokingham Borough Council’s Civic Offices in Shute End, Wokingham and at all Wokingham Borough Council Libraries.
The Scamnesty campaign, will be running from February 5 to 27 and is part of Scams Awareness Month, which will run throughout February across the country.
Wokingham Borough Council’s trading standards team are frequently alerted to potential scam mailings. Nationally scam mail costs residents, businesses and organisations £3.5billion a year.
Mass mail scams are usually in the form of lotteries, deceptive prize draws, fake psychics, get-rich-quick schemes, sweep-stakes and miracle health cures. They are usually sent through the post but can be made via email or over the phone and target elderly or vulnerable people.
Research by the OFT suggests that only five per cent of scam mailing is reported to Trading Standards so the leaflets and other mail shots collected in the special bins could provide essential information in catching scammers and preventing other people from becoming a victim.
Cllr Barrie Patman, executive member for Wokingham community safety, said: “Mail scams are a particularly cruel way of getting vulnerable or elderly people to part with their cash for a service which is either non-existent or not what is advertised.
“If we all bin these leaflets it will give us the opportunity to crack down on those people preying on the vulnerable.”
Mike Haley, OFT Director of Consumer Protection, added: “We want to empower the public to help beat the scammers by participating in the Scamnesty campaign. Any scam mailings that are dropped in the bins could be vital in gathering intelligence on the latest scams and in stopping the worst offenders from continuing to bring misery to thousands of vulnerable people each year.”
Wokingham Borough Council
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