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Thames Valley Alerts: Scams

By Compton Parish Council Compton Parish Council

Tuesday, 10 November 2020

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Compton Parish Council Contributor

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There are a number of scams at the moment and some have been doing the rounds for a number of years and also some new ones.

The Amazon Prime scam involves victims receiving an automated call informing them that they have been charged for an Amazon Prime subscription and to press 1 to cancel the transaction. Do not press 1 or any other number mentioned on any of the automated scams.

Fake emails and texts pretending to be from TV Licensing or DVLA.

HMRC automated phone call scam which will tell you that they are filing a lawsuit against you, and to press 1 to speak to a caseworker to make a payment. If you receive such a call, please put the phone down immediately. The callers use a variety of numbers and HMRC would like you to report full details of the scam by email to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk including date of the call, phone number and content of the call.

Halifax, TSB, Lloyds and other banking scams are being sent by text, automated phone call or email, so do not respond and always go to the genuine websites or phone your bank if you wish confirmation that this is a scam.

BT scam via email advising “our payment processor has detected incorrect or out of date billing information which needs updating immediately. Please log into your MyBt account by clicking the buttton below, and update your billing information to prevent suspension or termination of your service(s)”.

Cadbury’s competition on Facebook asking you to like or share this post to other people. By sharing, tagging, and commenting, you’ll be spamming on behalf of the scammers and exposing your friends and family to the scam as well. This time of year there are Supermarket voucher scams and other competitions on Facebook, so please do not fall for them.

Trading Standards and Action Fraud are making people aware of the following email scam, which is a hoax and the email asks you to circulate this around especially as Christmas is fast approaching - and that it has been confirmed by Royal Mail:

“A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a premium rate number). DO NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £315 for the phone call.”

PhonepayPlus, is aware that a chain e-mail about an alleged postal scam is being circulated on the internet. The email refers to the Royal Mail, Trading Standards and ICSTIS (PhonepayPlus' former name).

PhonepayPlus appreciates that recipients of the email may want to find out more information about the alleged scam and has therefore issued the following statement: The chain email refers to a service (operating on 0906 6611911) that was shut down by PhonepayPlus (then ICSTIS) in December 2005. PhonepayPlus subsequently fined the company that was operating the service, Studio Telecom (based in Belize), £10,000.

If you receive this email just delete it and do not forward it to anyone.

Contact Information

Compton Parish Council

Find Compton Parish Council

Wilkins Centre, Burrell Road, Compton, Newbury, Berkshire, RG20 6NP

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Additional Information

The Wilkins Centre is situated down the driveway to the left of the Village Hall.