More than 30 potential Wokingham scams found through Scamnesty
A Wokingham campaign designed to filter out bogus get-rich schemes and fake prize draws has uncovered more than 30 potential scams circulating in the Wokingham Borough alone.
Wokingham Borough Council took part in the national Scamnesty Campaign earlier this year, where residents were asked to drop off anything they thought could be a scam-mailing into confidential Scamnesty bins.
The Wokingham council’s trading standards team found that out of all the leaflets and mailings dropped into the bins, there were potentially 33 scams in circulation across the borough. These have now been sent to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for investigation.
Scam mailings can be sent by post, email, telephone or even by text and usually take the form of bogus lotteries, deceptive prize draws and sweepstakes, fake psychics, get-rich-quick schemes and miracle health cures. Scammers usually target elderly or vulnerable people with these fake claims.
The leaflets gathered will provide the OFT with valuable information about what scams are circulating in what areas and who is responsible for the scams.
Alonso Ercilla, trading standards officer for the Wokingham council who led the Scamnesty campaign in the Wokingham Borough, said: “Postal, email and telephone scams are very cruelly designed to get vulnerable people to part with their money and so I’m pleased that through the Scamnesty campaign we have been able to give the OFT evidence about potential scams that have been operating in the borough.
“Anyone who does receive, what they think might be a scam mailing should send it in to trading standards so that we can collect evidence, investigate scammers and take appropriate action.”
Wokingham Borough Council took part in the national Scamnesty Campaign earlier this year, where residents were asked to drop off anything they thought could be a scam-mailing into confidential Scamnesty bins.
The Wokingham council’s trading standards team found that out of all the leaflets and mailings dropped into the bins, there were potentially 33 scams in circulation across the borough. These have now been sent to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for investigation.
Scam mailings can be sent by post, email, telephone or even by text and usually take the form of bogus lotteries, deceptive prize draws and sweepstakes, fake psychics, get-rich-quick schemes and miracle health cures. Scammers usually target elderly or vulnerable people with these fake claims.
The leaflets gathered will provide the OFT with valuable information about what scams are circulating in what areas and who is responsible for the scams.
Alonso Ercilla, trading standards officer for the Wokingham council who led the Scamnesty campaign in the Wokingham Borough, said: “Postal, email and telephone scams are very cruelly designed to get vulnerable people to part with their money and so I’m pleased that through the Scamnesty campaign we have been able to give the OFT evidence about potential scams that have been operating in the borough.
“Anyone who does receive, what they think might be a scam mailing should send it in to trading standards so that we can collect evidence, investigate scammers and take appropriate action.”
Wokingham Borough Council
<< Home