Joan is Edinburgh’s Scambassador!

The City of Edinburgh Council has stepped up its fight against scams by joining forces with the Friends Against Scams campaign. The Council is the first organisation in Scotland to make the Friends Against Scams pledge to change perceptions and raise awareness of scams amongst staff and the wider community.

As an Organisation Against Scams, the Council has joined the National Trading Standards Scams Team in a national network to protect and prevent people from falling victim to this type of fraud.

Community Safety leader Councillor Joan Griffiths made her official pledge on Friday, promising to educate people about cons such as fake lotteries, deceptive prize draws and sweepstakes, clairvoyants and computer scams.

All members of the Council’s Trading Standards team are registered Friends Against Scams and work to make staff aware of scams, to help them spot the signs of a scam both in work and at home, and to take steps to prevent people falling victim.

The team have also pledged to take this training to partners and third sector organisations who come into regular contact with potential victims to train them as ‘SCAMchampions’, who can then advise people on the tricks used by con artists and how to avoid them.

On completing the free online training, Councillor Griffiths said: “I’m very excited to take this pledge and become a Scambassador for the Friends Against Scams initiative. Scams are heartless but very lucrative operations often taking advantage of people’s good nature and conning them out of their hard-earned money.

“Friends against scams is designed to promote awareness and remove some of the embarrassment that can be experienced by those who respond, encouraging people to share stories of their experiences with friends and family and normalise this type of conversation.

“I would urge everyone to look out for their friends and relatives who may be more vulnerable to scams, which can be very clever in their presentation, and can take a variety of forms.”

Anyone who suspects they or someone they know have been the victim of a scam should contact Edinburgh’s Trading Standards team on 0131 529 3030 for more information. There is some further information on scams and becoming a friend against scams at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/beatscams.