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News

Get Scamwise

For two weeks starting from Monday 19th June the Borough of Poole’s Environment and Consumer Protection Services (E&CPS) is asking for residents to hand in their scam mail using special bins placed in local libraries and at the Council’s offices at Stinsford Road.  

Residents are also invited to post their scam mail into the main letter box at the Civic Centre over the fortnight enabling residents to take part in the project outside of office hours.

The initiative is part of regional campaign led by the South West Regional Coordination of Trading Standards (SWERCOTS ) to crackdown on the perpetrators of scam mail by establishing the extent and nature of the scams. The information gathered will be shared with consumer protection groups in the UK and abroad.

In the UK alone it is estimated that consumers lose over £1 billion per year by responding to mass marketing scams such as fake lotteries or draws, premium-rate prize promotions, psychic mailings and miracle health cures.

Head of Poole’s Environmental & Consumer Protection Services, Shaun Robson said: “There are new scams guaranteeing an improvement in your luck or promising the earth being sent out to the public every day. Most of these originate abroad and are therefore very difficult for us to tackle but we want to make sure we can do what we can to catch the scammers in this country and warn the public when we find out about a new one”.

Councillor Don Collier, Portfolio Holder for the Environment said: “Many of these scams only ask for £10 or £20 and innocent people are tempted because it seems like a good deal for little outlay. When they are sent to thousands of people though this can soon add up to a very healthy profit. Often the scams are targeted at the elderly but these fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated and aim to con us all if we’re not scamwise. The simple rule is that if it’s too good to be true – it probably is. You should bin it or even better recycle it!”

From 19th June until 1st July, E&CPS are asking residents to remove their personal details from the mailings if possible and post them in the blue recycling bins provided inside the Borough’s libraries, E&CPS’s offices in Stinsford Rd or at the Civic Centre, Poole.

Shaun Robson, Head of Service, Environmental & Consumer Protection, Borough of Poole tel: 01202 631700