Beware giving personal information

We’ve had reports that someone has been posting cards in Waltham offering a chance to win a car in return for providing personal information. Some residents have investigated the company and found that it seems highly dubious.

We understand that quite a few people have given their personal details to the company. The police have been informed and are advising residents not to take part in the promotion. Please pass on this advice to others.

Click here to read a report about a similar campaign in Wigan. In this case the local Trading Standards and Consumer Protection department said: “Our advice is always not to give out details on the door step if you are in any way uncomfortable with the request.”

General advice, General warnings, Waltham on the Wolds |

Beware iTunes scam

I’ve had two unsolicited emails this morning with the subject ‘Thank you for buying iTunes Gift Certificate!’. They appear to come from the iTunes Store at ‘online.support@itunes.com’ and contain a zipped attachment called ‘Gift_Certificate’. The message reads:

Hello!
You have received an iTunes Gift Certificate in the amount of $50.00 You can find your certificate code in attachment below. Then you need to open iTunes. Once you verify your account, $50.00 will be credited to your account, so you can start buying music, games, video right away.
iTunes Store.

My suspicions where instantly raised because I don’t know anyone who would send me a $50 iTunes certificate. And a quick glance at the reply to address – novicetdg14@boyweb.com – confirms that all is not as it should be.

A number of people are getting caught by this latest email scam. Youngsters are particularly vulnerable because the idea of a $50 iTunes voucher can appear very attractive. But anyone fooled into divulging their iTunes account details will soon find that their credit card has been used to pay for all manner of goods.

The other cause for concern is that many of us use the same passwords for a number of online accounts. So divulging a user name and password in this type of fraud could lead to it being used for other scams – such as getting access to an on-line banking account. And that could spell serious trouble.

Please pass this warning onto anyone you feel maybe at risk – particularly young people who are more likely to have an iTunes account.

General warnings |

Churches break-ins

Police have issued an appeal for people to report any suspicious activity around churches in the area. There have been eight break-ins of churches in and around the Vale of Belvoir during recent weeks.

If you see something suspicious, but don’t need an immediate response, call 0116 222 222. If you are reporting a crime in progress, or suspect that one has, or is about to be committed, call 999.

Click here to view the kind of information police require to be fully effective.

General warnings |

Fraud alert: cashback money transfer scam

Our thanks to Brian Kelk from Bottesford Neighbourhood Watch for the following information: As some people in the Belvoir Neighbourhood have already been the victims of money transfer fraud, for example when selling a vehicle, I have extracted the relevant warning from the Metropolitan Police website.

I apologise for the length of it, but it contains some very good advice. If you take the trouble to Google ‘Banker’s Draft Scam’, you will find many more illustrative warnings of this potentially very damaging crime.

Key advice if you are involved in sales transactions:
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General warnings |

Warning: mobile phone scam

This warning was issued by Leicestershire Police:

A virgin mobile customer recently received a free SMS text message from 88989 asking her simply to reply with the text “OK” which she did. The message mentioned a Helpline 0808 234 1402 which she believed to be a premium rate line and therefore did not try it.

Her reply resulted in her receiving a text message, which stated GBP 1.5, and asking her a question about how Christmas was celebrated in Brazil. It also stated that she would receive a maximum of five such messages a day.

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General warnings |

Bogus callers: a national campaign

Burglars who trick their way into houses and target the elderly and vulnerable are the targets of a new national police campaign.

‘Not Sure? Don’t Open The Door’ is the message at the heart of Operation Liberal’s public awareness campaign against distraction burglars. The campaign, sponsored by the Energy Retail Association (ERA), aims to make people aware of the tactics used by distraction burglars, and how they can prevent themselves from becoming potential victims.

A distraction burglary is defined as where one or more offenders trick or distract an occupant in order to gain entry to the premises before committing burglary. Deputy Chief Constable Peter Goodman, who is the DCC for collaboration in the East Midlands and the Association of Chief Police Officer’s Lead for Operation Liberal says:

“This type of crime is despicable; victims of distraction burglary can suffer terribly both emotionally and physically. When you consider the average age of a victim is 81, you can understand why many suffer a decline in health afterwards, and why it can seriously affect their trust and faith in people afterwards.

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General advice, General warnings |

General warning to Facebook users

A number of people have warned us about a new scam aimed at anyone with a Facebook account. The account-holder is sent an email which appears to come from Facebook, saying that someone has applied to be their friend. The email looks exactly the same as any Facebook email, and includes a link to what appears to be the Facebook login screen.

It is in fact a spoof website designed to capture personal information, and is known as ‘phishing’. The scam is typically used to capture bank account login information – by presenting a login screen that is an exact copy of an internet banking log-in screen.

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General advice, General warnings |

General warning: telephone scams

During March 2010, a Kirby Bellars resident was telephoned, supposedly from Google, and told that the speed of broadband in his area area was slow. The resident was asked to switch on his computer and a technician would talk him through some steps in order to rectify the problem.

Fortunately the resident declined the offer and the caller became evasive before the call was ended. Entering code on a PC – or on a downloaded programme – can enable external providers to take control of your computer in order to investigate and fix a problem.
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General warnings |

Distraction burglary

On 3 March two white males visited an elderly female resident at her home in Orston stating words to the effect; “You need to get out of the house, there’s going to be an explosion.”

They then entered the premises turned on all the downstairs taps, searched cupboards and took a metal box that contained money. They then left.

The victim – who is 90 years of age and deaf – was very upset by their actions and unfortunately unable to give any description of the offenders. A neighbour realised something was amiss reported the matter to the police.

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General advice, General warnings |

Crimes update: Melton rural north

This crimes update was issued today by Hugh Crouch, Community Initiatives Coordinator at Melton Police HQ.

There were two house burglaries on 26th January – both targeting large, flat-screen TVs. One incident occurred at Grimston, and the other in Croxton Kerrial.

Outbuildings have been either tampered with, or broken into, at Bottesford on the 28th January, and Redmile on the 29th.

18 batteries (car, lorry and tractor types) were stolen from the West End area of Long Clawson just after 7am this morning.

On Sunday afternoon a vehicle parked on the Knipton Road near to Belvoir Castle was broken into and items stolen.

Anyone with information on any of these crimes is asked to call Leicestershire Constabulary on 0116 222 22 22.

General information, General warnings |

Police issue warning to all motorists

A man claiming to be a police officer stopped a woman motorist near Orston after flashing his lights at her to pull over. Now police are warning motorists not to stop if other cars flash their lights at them after the incident, which happened in Bottesford Lane, Orston, at around 6.50pm last Thursday (21 January).

The woman, who was driving from Scarrington to Bottesford, pulled over and the man got out of his car and walked up to her vehicle. He claimed he was a police officer but could not produce any identification, so the woman drove off.

Read the rest of this entry »

General advice, General warnings |

Suspicious vehicle warning

A message just received from Hugh Crouch at Melton Police:

Just a quick message to let you know that we have a new vehicle in the vale which has been seen acting in a suspicious manner: A GREEN RANGEROVER DISPLAYING N828GKH. If seen, please let Leicestershire Constabulary know on 0116 222 2222.

Plus there has been a 4×4 stolen in Melton Mowbray via a break to a home for the keys of the vehicle. Vehicle was a Nissan Navara. Grey on a 58 plate. Please keep your keys safe.

General warnings |

Waltham: cold-caller warning

A number of people reported two cold-callers in Waltham this afternoon selling dish cloths, and presenting bogus identity cards. One was described as black, about 20 years old, and around 5ft 11ins tall.

One resident said: “When I didn’t answer the door quickly enough for his liking, he started shouting outside – perhaps as a way of establishing whether the property was indeed unoccupied?”

When the resident refused to look at his wares, the caller was said to have “muttered curses under his breath as he retreated up the path”. He added: “It does reinforce the case for establishing ‘no cold-calling zones’ in the village, particularly when you consider the elderly and vulnerable – who would be easy prey for characters like this.”

Local Beat Managers, PC Mark Longden and PC Darryl Cunnington stress that residents shouldn’t purchase items from cold-callers, and ask that we should let them know when cold-callers start knocking on doors. Although they may be completely innocent, thefts have occurred following such visits in the past. The number to call is 0116 222 2222.

Click here for detailed advice on how to deal with cold-callers.

General warnings, Waltham on the Wolds |

Melton Mowbray: rural crimes update

A crime update for the rural areas of Melton Mowbray, issued by Hugh Crouch, Community Initiatives Co-ordinator at Melton Police HQ on the 17th December 2009.

Thank you
Firstly, a huge thank you for all your calls regarding suspicious vehicles and visitors. These are providing fantastic intelligence for us, so please keep the information coming!

Security
With regards to crime prevention, please remember to keep your house secure – even when there are people in the home. There have been a number of recent incidents of intruders entering properties when residents were inside.

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General warnings, Melton Mowbray, Old Dalby, Uncategorized |

Melton rural areas: scrap metal merchants

There have been a number of incidents in recent days of scrap metal merchants knocking on doors. If they don’t get an answer, they have been reported entering back gardens. In Waltham, a group were challenged by a local farmer when he found them going through a skip on someone else’s property.

Hugh Crouch from Melton Police is also warning that there has been an increase in the amount of copper cable being stolen from remote locations – particularly around the Redmile area.

Please call Leicestershire Constabulary on 0116 222 2222 to report any suspicious activity.

Croxton Kerrial, General warnings, Redmile, Waltham on the Wolds |