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9 Sep 08Borough of Poole Announces Results Of 'SCAMNESTY'
Borough of Poole's Environmental and Consumer Protection Service (E&CPS) has today announced the results of its 'Scamnesty' 
campaign, which shows the scale of mass-marketed scams targeting local residents.
The campaign, which took place earlier this year, as part of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) Scams Awareness Month, called on the public to fight back against scammers by collecting any scam mailings they had received and dropping them into designated 'Scamnesty' bins.
During February, E&CPS received 508 mailings from local residents with the most common scams across the region being identified as deceptive sweepstakes, followed by, bogus lotteries, and clairvoyant scams.
Across the UK as a whole, residents in nearly 50 local authorities dropped over 15,000 mailings in Scamnesty bins during the month-long campaign, which revealed the top mass marketed scams to be: deceptive sweepstakes, misleading prize draws, bogus lotteries, fake clairvoyants and miracle health cures.
The scam mailings provided crucial intelligence to Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading, and have helped provide information for future investigations, which will prevent others from being scammed.
Every year three million people in the UK lose money to mass marketed scams they receive by mail, email, text or over the phone, which are designed to con victims out of their cash. The problem costs UK consumers an estimated £3.5billion per year but less than 5 per cent of victims report their experience.
Cllr Don Collier, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for the Environment, Borough of Poole, said: There are many ways that unscrupulous scams can persuade people to part with their money. Through education and awareness we can protect the residents of Poole from the variety of scams that are around today. The message from Trading Standards is clear rogue traders are just out to get your money, don't fall for it get Scam Wise."
Mike Haley, OFT Director of Consumer Protection, said: 'The huge range of mailings uncovered by the Scamnesty campaign illustrate that there really is a 'scam for everyone'. This campaign has provided crucial intelligence, helping us to stop scams bringing misery to millions of people every year.'
If you think you have been the victim of a scam, or you suspect a scam, call Consumer Direct for clear, practical advice on 08454 04 05 06 or visit the Consumer Direct website where consumers can also report scams online at https://secure.consumerdirect.gov.uk/reportascam.aspx
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