Trading Standards Update - 02/06/2011

02/06/2011 Driveway Scam

Householders in Stratford upon Avon are warned to beware of door to door rogue traders offering ‘sealant’ services for driveways and patios. One consumer paid £200 to have her driveway ‘sealed’. The traders used the householder’s own hose pipe and brushes and made a terrible mess which they failed to clear up. The owner signed a contract on the doorstep and no cancellation rights were provided, as door to door traders are legally obliged to do.

It is not clear what, if anything, they sprayed on to the consumer’s driveway and the Birmingham address they provided was mail box accommodation address, making the traders very difficult to trace.

For more information, visit our website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards

02/06/2011 Alliance and Leicester Bogus Email

Computer users are warned to beware of another spate of spam phishing emails. The latest bogus email claims to have been sent by the Alliance and Leicester and warns recipients that ‘irregular’ activity has been discovered on their account. The email asks them to verify the activity before they can continue to use their account or the account will be suspended.

These bogus emails, which are sent at random by criminal gangs, hope to scare recipients in to revealing their personal or financial information by tricking them in to clicking a link on the email which would take them to a bogus website.

Never reveal your personal or financial information in an email or click on any links in suspicious emails. If you think an email from your bank is genuine, contact the bank on a publicly listed phone number.



02/06/2011 Bogus Caller Kenilworth

Warwickshire Trading Standards has received a report from a consumer about a potential bogus caller in the Kenilworth area.

The caller asked the householder if she was ‘on electric’. She then asked to read the meter and the householder agreed to meet her at her side gate. When the householder did so the caller had disappeared.

The caller did not leave a name or show a badge.


02/06/2011 Householders Warned Again About Illegal Electricity Top-Ups

Householders who use electricity prepayment meters are continuing to buy half price electricity top-up keys for cash on the doorstep, not realising that they will end up having to pay twice for their electricity.

Criminal gangs are cloning electricity meter top-up keys and selling them door to door for half their normal costs i.e. a £50 top up for £25. Householders are buying them in the false belief that they will save money. However, energy companies detect when they have not received payment for electricity used. As the energy credit is illegal any customer buying top-ups on the doorstep will end up paying twice, first to the criminal and then to their energy supplier.

Energy companies and Consumer Focus, the consumer watchdog, have reported that up to 85,000 households across the UK have been affected by the doorstep scam.

Some sellers may falsely claim to be electricity supply company representatives offering 'special deals' and 'discounts' in order to sell the bogus cards. However, genuine companies never sell electricity top-ups door-to-door.

Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service is urging Warwickshire residents to only buy electricity credit through official channels (recognized PayPoint or Payzone shops or The Post Office).

The fraud involves only electricity, not gas, prepayment meters.  

For more information, visit our website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards

* A list of all the latest email alerts is available on our website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards

Simon Cripwell
Senior Information Officer
Trading Standards Service
Environment and Economy Directorate
Warwickshire County Council
tel. 01926 414039
mob. 07771 975570
email. simoncripwell@warwickshire.gov.uk
web. www.warwickshire.gov.uk
My normal working days are Monday to Thursday