Report a concern about information rights
If you have a concern about an organisation’s information rights practices, report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). (more…)
Consumer
Alerts feed added to web site
We’ve added a twitter feed to our website for alerts from:
- Kent County Council Public Protection
Consumer & business alerts about Scams, Rogue Traders, Major Incidents, Severe Weather, Recalls & more. - Recall Database
Aiming to bring all of the UK product safety notices and recalls together in one place. - The National Trading Standards eCrime Team
tackling online consumer scams, rip-offs and fraud, as well as those committed by text or email. - Action Fraud
The UK’s national fraud & cyber reporting centre where you can report, get advice and information
Check the Public Protection feed in the right hand margin to keep abreast of consumer and fraud alerts
Fraudsters pretend to work for BT
Kent Trading Standards have received reports of scam phone calls and letters from people claiming to work for the telecommunication service, BT.
The caller asks for an upfront fee of £300 to opt-out of scam telephone calls and tries to gain the resident’s confidence by quoting the last four digits of their credit card. The caller then asks for the beginning of their credit card number to complete the transaction. They may also send a letter as shown here.
We believe this person may be using the identity of an existing company to scam residents.
Registration with TPS is Free. TPS is the only official UK ‘do not call’ register for opting out of live telesales calls. The TPS register is established and supported by legislation. Organisations which want to make live telesales calls in the UK are legally required to screen their sales lists against the TPS list.
For advice and to report issues to KCC Trading Standards contact
Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06
Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Kent Trading Standards 25 January 2016
Understanding when food goes off could save you money.
Use by dates
These refer to food safety
Don’t eat food after this date, even if it looks and smells OK
Best before dates
These refer to food quality
Food is still safe to eat after this date, but may not be at its best
Did you know?
You can ignore ‘display until’ and ‘sell before’ dates. These are for shop staff, not shoppers.
Women and Children Are Still Dying – I Can’t Walk Away From That
On the day the Chancellor announced a commitment to more funding to support domestic abuse victims and charities, an Independent Domestic Violence Adviser (Idva), trained by SafeLives, wrote about their experience helping victims of abuse and their children. It’s a really powerful piece, and shows just how important it is that services are maintained to help everyone affected by domestic abuse.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ceri/violence-against-women_b_8637152.html
#talkaboutabuse
Protect yourself from Bogus Electrical Websites
Fraudsters have set up a high specification website template advertising various electrical goods and domestic appliances. These goods are below market value and do not exist. The fraudsters will request your card details via the website; however the purchaser will then receive an email stating the payment failed and they must pay via bank transfer.
The fraudsters entice the purchaser and reassure them it is a legitimate purchase by using the widely recognised Trusted Shop Trustmark. The fraudsters are using the Trustmark fraudulently and have not been certified by Trusted Shops and therefore the purchaser is not covered by the Trusted Shop money-back guarantee.
Protect yourself: (more…)
Urban Fraud Myth: Antivirus Software
#UrbanFraudMyths
Myth:
If I have anti-virus software installed on my device I am fully protected.
Reality
It is true that anti-virus provides a very strong layer of protection to your device, however it can still be bypassed by sophisticated viruses, or malware.
You need to ensure you keep anti-virus, operating systems and other security measures up to date.
Avoid unknown and copycat websites and those giving scam offers.
www.getsafeonline.org/protecting-your-computer/searching-the-internet/
Urban Fraud Myth: Legitimate Websites
#UrbanFraudMyths
Myth:
If a company has a website it must be legitimate.
Reality:
It takes just minutes to set up a website in any name you want at minimal cost, which means fraudsters can set up a website as easily as anybody else.
www.scamwebsites.co.uk/how-to-detect-a-scam-website.html
Urban Fraud Myth: Social Networking
#UrbanFraudMyths
Myth
It doesn’t really matter what information I put on social media sites as only my friends can see it.
Reality:
By getting your privacy settings wrong or accepting people ypu don’t know as friends, you may be giving fraudsters valuable information about you and your habits. Personal details can be used to guess passwords, habits and vulnerabilities so you need to check your social media settings regularly.
All personal information is valuable and fraudsters are good at filling in the missing information.
https://www.getsafeonline.org/social-networking/social-networking-sites/
Urban Fraud Myths: Passwords
#UrbanFraudMythsMyth:
There’s nothing in my personal emails that anyone would care about.
Reality:
Hackers can use your email to gain access to all your personal accounts.
Make your password stronger with three random words.