Police Notices
& 
Scam Warnings

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Residents are advised to be aware of cons and the scams that are taking place.   Hopefully the following notification will help to make everyone a little wiser.

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Council Clothing Stolen

A burglary recently occurred to a Local Authority building and amongst items stolen were council maintenance clothing? Persons may potentially use theses to pass themselves off as council employees to commit distraction burglaries. Residents should always request door step identity and if in doubt contact police. 

PR 36/10

Commission warns of bogus telephone calls

The Charity Commission has been made aware of a scam involving people being telephoned by individuals claiming to represent the Charity Commission. In the phone calls these individuals claim to be from the "debt collection department" of the Commission and they demand payments for various services and advertisements.  

Some of the bogus calls have demanded payments of thousands of pounds for various services and advertisements. The Commission has been contacted by a number of people who have received calls of this nature and has already reported this matter to the police.

It is important to be clear that:

• Any call from someone claiming to work with or on behalf of the Charity Commission, and claiming any payment in a threatening way, is clearly bogus;
• The Charity Commission does not charge for any of its services to charities; it does not get involved in debt collection either directly or through contracting third parties to do so, and nor does it collect debt on behalf of charities;
• You should immediately report these sorts of incidents to the police, and the Charity Commission would also like to be informed where its name is being used for suspected fraudulent purposes.

Andrew Hind, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said;
“I am outraged that individuals are misusing the good name of the Charity Commission in this way. I would strongly urge anyone to contact the police if they receive one of these calls and to please notify us as well.” 

Our advice to charities is: 

• When you speak to any member of staff from the Commission they will always be prepared to give their name, telephone number and email address;
• Commission email addresses always end with the domain name @charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk;
• Check the number of any suspect caller against the direct dial telephone codes for our offices; these are London 0207 674…, Liverpool 0151 703…, Taunton 01823 345… , Newport 01633 2255…

The best way to contact us is by email or if you need to speak to someone urgently you can call our contact centre on 0845 300 0218. Lines are open from 08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, except national holidays

Moblie Phone Scams
Beware of rogue sale-persons
Residents are advised to be aware of mobile phone offers from rogue firms and individuals acting independently from the well known brand names. They give the impression that they represent a brand name when, in fact, they do not. Many residents has been accosted on the streets of Neath town centre with offers to change their phone or their service provider.
Another scam is a telephone call that gives the impression that it is from the company that you have an account with. One of the first questions asked is if you are happy to remain with the same company (giving the name of firm). If you answer 'yes' it is recorded and taken as an indication that you want to proceed with the deal they are about to make.
We think it wrong that established phone companies allow these subsidiary firms to act on their behalf in this manner. One resident tells us he was disconnected as a result of one such deal which involved a so called updated phone that was never delivered. 
Remember that these are cleverly trained sales people who avoid telling you the name of the company they represent - and that it is easy to be conned by them. No signature is required for the deal - just a verbal 'yes' to a question that is cleverly asked.
What is more annoying is the fact that these subsidiary firms (what we call rogue firms) are paid commission by the phone companies to sell phones. When the transaction is done, the rogue firm hold the 'deeds' of your mobile phone number for the duration of the contract, which is usually for 18 months. During this time your phone number is tied to them whether you like it or not. This applies independently to the account with your service provider to whom you pay your monthly bills.
It's time this minefield was sorted out and a stop made to people being tricked into an upgrade (which is sometimes a phone not so good as the old one) that they did not really want. It is particularly annoying to anyone wanting to keep the same mobile phone number, which is controlled by an unwelcome third party on a so called contract basis.