A MESSAGE FROM THE SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM:

No sooner than the NHS announces that patients with obesity problems will be able to access the weight loss injections as a free service from the family doctor, the criminal seizes another opportunity to defraud unsuspecting victims with celebrity endorsements for similar products.
The current endorsements for such products are sent by emails and texts and give the impression they are endorsed by certain stars of Dragon Dens, amongst others. Previous endorsements have promoted investments opportunities, household products, and fake competitions, all bearing images of genuine celebrities but posted without their knowledge.
How to protect yourself?
Check that the account or profile for the “Celebrity” is genuine, or that this is a genuine Brand account
If the advert asks for payments of personal information, check it is genuine before parting with these details
If the character endorsing the product offers a video promotion, then check for anything out of character. Also look for jerky face movements or if their speech sounds strange.
Would a genuine Celebrity ask for money?
Another recent scam featuring various celebrities offers a private meeting backstage after their show. Not surprisingly a payment is asked for the privilege with the payment often requested by Gift Cards or Bitcoins, so untraceable and not retrievable.
Any suspicious website can be reported to National Cyber Security Centre via https://ncsc.gov.uk
FAKE GARDENER
There have been reports of gardening services being offered locally via a Facebook page. The person asks for a deposit when a booking is taken to carry out a gardening job, but the “Gardener” never turns up and potentially, the deposit paid is lost.
As with any tradesperson, no payment should be made until the person is on a site and the work completed as described and agreed. It is always advisable to ask for a written quotation on headed notepaper for larger jobs.
Please feel free to share these messages with any vulnerable friends, relatives, or neighbours, especially anyone of pensionable age.
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If you’ve fallen for fraud
Report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via actionfraud.police.uk
Scam Text messages can be forwarded to 7726 to help phone providers take prompt action and block numbers that generate spam on their networks.
You can also report fraudulent mobile calls by texting 7726 with the word “Call” followed by the fraudster’s phone number.
Forward Fake Emails received to report@phishing.gov.uk
If you think your bank account or personal banking details have been used fraudulently, then use the short phone number - 159 - to contact the Fraud Prevention Department of most major UK banks.

The Government recently announced the reinstatement of Winter Fuel Payments to eligible pensioners with an income lower than £35,000.

So once again the criminals have seen an opportunity to defraud unsuspecting victims by sending texts and emails claiming to be from the Department of Work and Pensions – DWP.

The first clue that these are a Scam is the fact they refer to an “Energy Allowance” in the heading, as opposed to Winter Fuel Payments.

Secondly, they infer that you will have to apply by clicking the link in the message with a very short application period, so using the usual tactic of creating a sense of urgency for potential victims to sign up.

DWP will never ask you to apply for the Winter Fuel Payment, all eligible pensioners will be paid automatically by DWP and there is no need to provide any details or complete any application forms.

Please feel free to share these messages with any vulnerable friends, relatives or neighbours, especially anyone of pensionable age.