Stop fraud scamnesty

East Sussex County Council is running a second 'scamnesty' campaign this month and Trading Standards Officers want people to hand in any suspicious mailings they receive to their local library.

The campaign follows a similar initiative that the Council ran in September last year.

Councillor Bob Tidy, Lead Member for Community Services, said: "The roll of shameful scams that people may receive includes: 'prize draws', 'foreign lotteries', 'bouncing cheques', 'unclaimed inheritances', 'pet offers', 'easy money job offers', 'tax rebates' 'home working opportunities' and 'parcel delivery text messages'. They are all designed with one purpose in mind '“ to rip you off."

All East Sussex County Council Libraries are taking part in the campaign which is being replicated by Trading Standards teams across the UK and with the support of the Office of Fair Trading.

"During our last campaign we received information on over 600 scams," said Councillor Tidy.

"This helped us to better understand how the scammers are operating, how they are evolving and how best to tackle them.

"Our Trading Standards team now responds to every request for help from anyone who may know of a friend or relative or may themselves have fallen victim to these scams. By speaking to the person concerned we can help them understand the situation and cut off contact with the fraudsters. Unfortunately, our last scamnesty revealed some heartbreaking stories where people had lost thousands of pounds after falling victim to these criminals.

"There is a scam designed for everyone, they are operating on a large scale and in this age of the internet and mobile phones, anyone could be targeted and fall victim if they are not alert to the problem".

The following scams have all been reported by East Sussex residents in recent months:

- Foreign lottery wins: You've won a fortune...despite you never having entered a lottery in Spain or Canada and before they can send you the cheque you have to send them money.

- Prize draw wins. You've won thousands...All you have to do is buy their overpriced products first, and the prize somehow never materialises.

- Unclaimed inheritances. Someone with the same name as you has died abroad and left a huge inheritance, and that could be yours...But you have to send money first.

- Easy money 'job' offers: All you have to do is receive money into your bank account and then transfer that money abroad keeping a percentage...But if that money has been stolen or obtained fraudulently, your bank will eventually recover it from you, and you could be prosecuted for involvement in money laundering.

- Tax rebate: You've been contacted by email or phone and told you're entitled to a hefty tax refund...But the real HMRC will never contact you by phone or email.

- Home-working job opportunities: Earn hundreds every week and work from your own home...So if this is a genuine job offer, how come you have to pay them first?

- Cheque bouncing fraud: You've sold your old car that you advertised on the internet...So how come you have received a cheque for far more than the value of your car, why do you have to send the extra money abroad for "shipping fees" and has that cheque really cleared?

- Bargain pedigree puppy: You've found an adorable pup on sale on the internet, and at a bargain price, all you have to do is pay transport costs as the dog is in Ireland...So how come you are paying the shipping fees to someone in Africa?

- Premium rate phone calls: You have a text saying you have a large parcel awaiting delivery, just ring that foreign looking phone number to arrange delivery...But you weren't expecting a parcel and you could be ringing a premium rate phone based anywhere in the world.

For more information about the work of Trading Standards please visit the County Council website at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/consumeradvice.