You must be on your guard against bogus officials offering to give council refunds, relating to council tax.
People are being called and told they may qualify for a refund and then asked for their bank account details so the payment can be made. In some cases residents have also been asked for a £90 admin fee to process their application.
Whilst this con may not yet have arrived in your area, it is worth everyone being vigilant and not giving out any sensitive information to unknown callers, either on the phone or in person. If you receive any such approach, contact the Police and inform them..
If you are due for any kind of refund, you will be informed in writing by your Local Authority and no ‘admin’ fee will be payable!
As a trader, you try your best to keep your customers happy, 25% off, 30% off, even BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free) deals yet there are still people out there with the sole intention of trying to rip you off. If you have premises you can tighten security by fitting a modern security system or even hiring security personell.
What happens if you are a sole trader working on a market or on a mobile shop? You cannot afford to have extra staff or it’s just not feasible to have cameras or other security measures around you! At this time of year, retailers welcome the boost that festive shopping brings and not just high street traders but market traders and mobile shop owners too.
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As we approach Christmas nearly everyone seems to be in a better-than-normal mood (weather permitting) which can lead us all to lower our defences when it comes to security, especially those involved within the retail market. Shop assistants who are normally very vigilant, tend to become more chatty with customers, and it is in these split seconds when your guard is down, a good thief can rip you off for hundreds of pounds.
It was recently reported that small business will spend more on their water coolers than on security for their properties (thirsty work running after shop thieves). With Christmas just around the corner the retail segment is heading into its busiest patch of the year. Thieves will be targetting businesses with none or very little security. Once a business has been singled out as ‘an easy touch’ it’s not long till word spreads. Shoplifters from near and far will start taking advantage and money that should be going into your pocket will be literally walking out your front door.
In today’s ‘hard economical’ climate many businesses simply have not got the money to have expensive security systems fitted, one way round this is to ‘fool’ people into thinking you have state of the art cameras fitted.
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Over the last few months the UK has been hit by intermittent Postal strikes and millions of parcels have been left undelivered in many sorting stations around the country. This is bad news for people who ordered goods within this time-period and are still waiting on them being delivered. Not to miss an opportunity – groups of criminals have been using the Postal Strike to their advantage and have devised a scam that is making them thousands of pounds.
The scam works like so …
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We have all heard of the term counterfeit money so what exactly is it?
This is the production of currency without the proper licences from a Government; it can also be know as funny money or forgery and as long as there has been money there have been people around that have been able to produce near exact copies and pass it off as ‘real money’.
With the run up to Christmas now here, most people will be purchasing goods with legitimate money, however there will be Forgers that will be looking for shops, vans and market stalls that do not have any counterfeit detection or banknote checkers and they will be handing over their counterfeit notes and walking away with goods, while the shopkeepers will be left with nothing.
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Burglars love this time of year, people away late night Christmas shopping, dark nights and peoples lack of security. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a condition that makes people feel depressed due to the shortened day light hours, so just imagine how much more depressed you’ll become arriving home and finding that some stranger has broken in and rifled through your most personal possessions.
A sad fact of today’s society that some people are only too happy to come into your home and take what they want, so what can be done to protect your possessions?
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As a trader you try your best to protect your property such as installing alarms, cameras and even hire security guards to watch people as they purchase goods from you. No matter what type of business you are in there is one type of fraud that will affect you and your business in the run-up to Christmas – counterfeit money.
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Everyone wants to feel safe, no matter if it’s in their own home, walking down their local high street or on a night out with a few friends. A sad fact for many of today’s younger generation is staying safe means belonging to some type of gang. Paradoxically giving them a sense of security and belonging while thrusting them to very edge of harms way.
Gang culture is an underlying part of everyday life in Britain. Gang culture has no confines, therfore it can be found in most villages, towns and cities. Most gangs are run by some type of hierarchy and in a survey carried out earlier this year it was reported that more than 13% of gang members admitted carrying some type of weapon for use as protection whether it be a penknife, flick-knife or gun.
As we approach bonfire night tonight and then the traditional Christmas party season – most parents will be wondering what their kids will be doing as they pass through their front doors and off into the evening. It’s worrying to read that violent crime happened more on our streets in the last year than at any other time in the past decade. It’s estimated that a random attack in the UK happens every 30 seconds.
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I don’t know about you but it seems just lately that everyone is trying to get their hands on your ‘old gold’, we are constantly being bombarded by adverts on the TV, radio and newspapers telling us that “Gold is at it’s highest price in years”, so go to your jewellery box and sell all your old gold for instant cash. The lure of instant cash will have people raking through their homes looking for that broken gold chain or old wedding ring, but for some no matter the lure they will be holding onto their precious possessions.
The thought of all that gold laid around in people’s homes must have thieves thinking that they can get some easy cash, thieves realise that most people don’t put their jewellery into a safe they simply put it into a jewellery box that just sits on top of a dressing table in a bedroom. With all that broken and unused gold just sitting in your home it must be very tempting for thieves, remember they have no morals – they don’t care about people’s feelings, it’s just easy money for them.
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