Hand in your scam mail to help beat the fraudsters
Lancaster City Council is helping to tackle the problem of scam mail by providing special bins in its Customer Service Centres.
The Scamnesty campaign, run by Lancashire Trading Standards and Lancashire Constabulary, has seen special bins being placed at various locations for people to deposit any scams they receive through the post.
Bins can be found in the Customer Service Centres at the town halls in Morecambe and Lancaster, along with police stations and libraries.
New for this year, people can also send any emailed scams through to the team for further investigation at tsscams@lancashire.gov.uk.
Last year's campaign identified 400 separate scams which, had they worked, could have cost Lancashire residents £10.6m. It also revealed that fake prize draws remain the biggest problem, showing a seven-fold increase between 2010 and 2011.
Scams are a massive hidden problem with victims often too embarrassed to report them. Estimates put the cost to Lancashire residents alone at £64m annually, with 76,000 people becoming victims every year.
If you are unsure of an offer, speak to family or friends, and seek advice from Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit www.actionfraud.org.uk. You can report e-scams online via the action fraud website.
If you think you may have been misled into paying money as a result of a scam, please register your complaint with Trading Standards by calling Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.
Date Published: 01/02/12