Craigleith woman targeted in telephone scam

Edinburgh Police are investigating a second significant ‘vishing’ fraud in the city this month. Continue reading Craigleith woman targeted in telephone scam

Edinburgh fights back against mail fraudsters

A growing team of volunteers is helping to fight the fraudsters who target vulnerable Edinburgh residents through mail scams.

Crooks use scam letters and phone calls to con people to the tune of billions of pounds across the UK – but the capital’s 36 mail marshals are playing a key role in the battle against them.

Scams work by targeting individuals with official-looking documents and promises of lottery wins, psychic messages or health claims, asking for either a small order to be placed or an administration fee to be paid to release the money. Once someone has responded, their details are shared, resulting in them being bombarded with huge amounts of mail.

Mail marshals such as great gran Lynda Simpson, from Broomhall, collect the letters they receive and send it to the City of Edinburgh Council’s Trading Standards (TS) team, who then pass it on to the national TS team for further scrutiny. Around 60% of the UK’s mail marshals are based in Edinburgh.

Whilst it’s extremely difficult to prosecute the perpetrators, the scheme aims to protect victims from further crime by disrupting the system, and providing vital intelligence to help TS officers keep up-to-date with current scams. Those taking part have found that once they stop replying, the letters gradually stop arriving.

Mrs Simpson was referred to Trading Standards via the National Scams Hub, who had become aware that she was being targeted by scammers. The Edinburgh TS team then got in touch to raise their concerns and provide the necessary intervention and support. Lynda is now urging others to be aware of scams and to seek help if concerned.

She said: “I sent money because the person who had written the letter sounded so nice and kind. More and more letters then started to arrive, but alarm bells started ringing when I noticed that they were all asking for the same amount, and were all from the Netherlands.

“I used to get about 10 a day, and that’s down to about one a day since signing up. I’m not stupid but they conned me. It’s happening to people who are more vulnerable than me who don’t have anyone, and that’s really horrible.”

Councillor Cammy Day, Community Safety Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Mail is usually being sent from abroad, so it’s difficult to target its source. It’s a heartless but very lucrative operation, taking advantage of people’s good nature and conning them out of their hard-earned money. These scams can be very clever in their presentation, and can take a variety of forms.

“People should never feel embarrassed that it’s happened to them, but be assured that it can happen to anyone, of any age or circumstance. Mail marshals are hugely valuable in helping to stop this, so please get in touch with us if you’re worried about it happening to yourself or someone you know, and think you may be able to assist.”

Louise Baxter, National Trading Standards Scam Team Manager, said: “For the Mail Marshal project to be a success, it involves all partners working effectively with each other. The work that Edinburgh Trading Standards is doing is crucial to the work of the National Trading Standards Scams Team.

“The project engages scam victims and gathers valuable intelligence for the National Trading Standards Scams Team. More importantly it provides an alternative support mechanism for victims whilst providing them with choices and the autonomy to manage their own affairs. This leads to consumer empowerment, which is our ultimate aim.”

Contact Edinburgh’s Trading Standards team on 0131 529 3030 for more information. Continue reading Edinburgh fights back against mail fraudsters

Be alert: ATM skimming devices warning

ATM SKIMMING DEVICES

Given further discoveries of ATM skimmers in Edinburgh city centre, Dalkeith and Drylaw, Police Scotland is urging members of the public to be extra vigilant when withdrawing cash from ATMs.

– Check for tampering
If anything looks out of the ordinary, don’t use it. There might be something that just doesn’t look quite right near the screen, near the card reader itself or the keyboard perhaps. Trust your instincts.

– Have a wiggle
Skimmers read the magnetic stripe on your card as its inserted. By giving your card a wiggle as you put it in the machine, this will foil any skimmer that’s in the machine, without interfering with your transaction.

– Assume you’re being watched
Whether its through a hidden camera or by someone hovering over your shoulder, shield your pin as you enter it.

– ‘Up the Ante’ at the Weekends
Fraudsters know it’s harder to report anything suspicious to the bank over the weekend, so chances of machines being hit are higher. Take extra care out of business hours and on Saturdays and Sundays.

If your card is retained by the cash machine, contact your card issuer immediately.

City crackdown on catchment fraud

Council clamping down on school place cheats

Six families have lost their school places after being caught giving false statements to get their children into popular city primaries in a crackdown by the City of Edinburgh Council.

As a result of the investigations by the Council’s fraud team, the offer of places was withdrawn and several other families dropped their requests when they discovered they were being investigated.

In some cases, families were also found to be fraudulently claiming housing and council tax benefits and were then forced to repay the money. In one instance, where a tenant was discovered to be sub-letting their council house, they lost their tenancy.

Councillor Paul Godzik, Convener of Education, Children and Families, said: “We know this is an issue that concerns many parents and we take it very seriously.

“If we believe there is a possibility that fraud is being committed, we will investigate. If we discover this to be the case we will withdraw the school place.

“By working with the Council’s fraud team, we are able to access a greater range of information, including credit checks, and this has allowed us to identify instances of fraud. Anecdotally we believe there are a number of schools in the city where this is likely to be a greater issue than others and we investigate all potential cases. This year we plan to put these schools under greater scrutiny with spot checks at different stages of the process.”

When registering for a school place for the first time, parents need to provide a council tax demand notice and recent utility bill. If someone is moving house they need to provide proof of purchase and their tenancy agreement. If they are moving to a different Edinburgh address they will also need to provide proof of sale or termination of lease.

When pupils move from primary to secondary school they are allocated a place based on the current address information held by their school. Spot checks will be carried out to ensure this is accurate.

The Corporate Fraud Team can carry out credit checks, check council tax records and carry out unannounced home visits to establish whether or not someone is actually living at the address they claim to be at. If nobody is at home when they visit, they will speak to neighbours to try and find out if they know who was living in the house.

And the fraud team will continue their address checks during the school registration process which starts in November.

Anyone who believes a parent has given false information to register for a school place can contact the school placing team on 0131 469 3033 or email school.placements@edinburgh.gov.uk. All cases will be treated confidentially and you will remain anonymous.

Give safely to refugee appeals

Make sure your donations reach registered charities – advice from the Charity Commission

The news is currently dominated by the plight of thousands of men, women and children attempting to travel across Europe, and finding themselves in desperate need.

Many registered charities, experienced in this area, are currently working to give humanitarian aid and support. If you wish to support this work you can find a registered charity through our online search.

Sarah Atkinson, Director of Policy and Communications at the Charity Commission said:

“There are laws around collecting money for charity in public which are there to protect donors and make sure that the money raised goes to a genuine charitable cause. Follow our advice to make sure that whether you give online, by phone or in person you are giving safely.”

Commission’s Top 10 tips to make sure you give safely:

Before giving, check the charity’s name and registration number against the online charity search tool: Find a charity – register of charities.
Fundraisers require a licence from the local authority (or the police in London) to collect in a public place. Check that they have this. If the collection is in a privately owned place, check that they have the owner’s permission.
When approached by collectors, check whether they are wearing a proper ID badge and that any collection tin is sealed.
If in doubt, ask the collector for more information – a genuine fundraiser should be happy to answer questions and explain more about the work of the charity.
Genuine fundraising materials should feature the charity’s name, registered name and a landline contact number. Be wary of those that list only a mobile number.
Make sure when you give to radio and television appeals that the process is secure. Ofcom lists the rules for radio and television charity appeals on its website: Licensing – Ofcom website.
Take care when responding to emails or clicking links to a charity’s website to ensure that they are genuine. Instead, search online for your chosen charity to check you have the right web address. For further guidance see: Guidance for donors – Get Safe Online.
Carefully review collection bags for clothing and household goods to ascertain whether they are from a genuine charity.
After making these checks, if you think that a collection or appeal is not legitimate, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 and inform the Charity Commission: Action Fraud – Police.
Don’t be pressurised to give to a collection immediately. If in any doubt, donate directly to the charity.

All change for pension options

But beware of pension fraudsters

The rules on how you can access your defined contributions pension savings from age 55 change from today. Changes to pension rules will give savers much more control over their money – but some industry experts fear that the changes will see a new wave of cold-calling, fraud and criminal activity.

The government is advising people not to take cold calls from fraudsters posing as pension professionals. Pensions minister Steve Webb – who himself was cold-called by fraudsters – acknowledges that there are risks involved with making pensions savings easier to access.

“A lot of people will have access to a lot of money come April, and there’s a bunch of crooks out there,” he said. “People should take professional advice. Pension Wise – our service – is the place to go. Not somebody who cold calls you.”

The GMB trade union is urging the Information Commissioners to crack down hard when dealing with cold callers threatening the pension pots of millions of UK savers.

GMB commented last week on the statement from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) that they are investigating claims that details of the pension pots of millions of people are being sold and ending up in the hands of cold callers. See notes to editors for statement by ICO and reports on Press Association.

Phil McEvoy, GMB National Pensions Officer, said: “This is a worrying example of the activities that look certain to accompany the new freedoms on pensions.

“History does not look kindly on pension deregulation with the mis-selling scandals of 25 years ago showing that freedoms can simply induce a feeding frenzy amongst the scavengers seeking to deprive savers of their money.

“It looks like the vultures are coming home to roost again. It is imperative that the ICO as regulator throw the book at anyone threatening the future finances of UK’s pensioners.

“ICO should not hesitate to use its power to issue penalties of up to £500,000 where marketing calls or messages cause or have the potential to cause substantial damage or distress.”

Access your savings

From today (6 April), from age 55, you can access as much of your savings from your defined contributions pension scheme (also known as ‘money purchase schemes’) as you want under new ‘pensions flexibility’ rules.

Schemes don’t have to offer these options. Talk to your pension provider to see what options are available to you.

You can transfer your pension savings to a pension provider that offers the option that you want to use.

You can access your benefits in a number of different ways:

Lump sum payment

You can take money direct from your pension pot without having to buy an annuity or put the money into drawdown, and 25% of this sum will be tax free. This is called an ‘uncrystallised funds pension lump sum’ (UFPLS). You can take one or more UFPLS payments and these can be regular or irregular payments.

If you receive a UFPLS and this is the first time you have used the pension flexibility rules to access your pension savings, your scheme administrator will provide you with a flexible access statement.

Lifetime annuity

You can use some or all of your funds to buy an annuity that will be payable at least for the rest of your life.

You can take a tax free lump sum of up to 25% of your pension pot when you buy an annuity. This is called a pension commencement lump sum.

Flexi-access drawdown

You can put funds into drawdown. From 6 April 2015 there are no limits on how much or how little you can take from your drawdown fund each year. You can take a tax free pension commencement lump sum of up to 25% of your pension pot when you put funds into drawdown. Any drawdown payments are taxed as income.

If you receive a flexi-access drawdown payment and this is the first time you have used the pension flexibility rules to access your pension savings, your scheme administrator will provide you with a flexible access statement.

Capped Drawdown

You can continue in capped drawdown if you were in a scheme before the changes, but no new capped drawdown funds or flexible drawdown funds may be set up from 6 April 2015 onwards.

If you are in capped drawdown you may either convert your fund into a flexi-access drawdown fund or continue to take a capped drawdown pension from your arrangement. Speak to your pension scheme administrator if you want to convert to flexi-access drawdown.

You can add additional funds to your existing capped drawdown arrangements and your existing annual pension limits and review periods for capped drawdown will continue to apply. Capped drawdown payments are taxed as income.

Short term annuities

If you are in drawdown you can decide to receive benefits in drawdown by purchasing short term annuities. These are paid by insurance companies at least annually and for no more than 5 years.

Overseas pension schemes

Changes made to the legislation covering pensions savings in overseas schemes bring them in line with the 2015 changes made to the rules for UK registered pension schemes.

These changes affect:

qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (QROPS) – schemes that can receive transfers from registered pension schemes as authorised payments
currently relieved non-UK pension schemes – where UK tax relief has been given on or after 6 April 2006 in respect of pension savings under the scheme

Collectively, these schemes will are known as ‘relevant non-UK schemes’ and will be subject to similar rules as UK registered pension schemes.

Tax on payments and contributions

All payments you receive from an annuity or drawdown are taxable as income. You also pay income tax on 75% of the amount of any UFPLS you receive. The amount of tax you pay will depend on the amount of payments that you receive in the tax year plus any other taxable income you have.

You’ll also pay tax on any contributions you make to your pension pot over your tax-free annual allowance.

You can find more information from GOV.UK guides on:

Further Information

Pension Wise is a free and impartial government service that helps you understand your new pension options.

Police warn of ‘bank’ phone call scam

Police are warning members of the public to be alert to phone calls from criminals who claim to be working for banks. The fraudsters frighten victims into believing their bank accounts have been hacked – and then persuade them to transfer their savings into new ‘safe’ accounts.

The fraud works like this:

A phone call is received from a male pretending to be from their bank’s Fraud Department. He informs the victim that there has been suspicious activity on their bank account and asks them to call the helpline telephone number on the back of their bank card in order to verify his position at the bank.

The alarmed victim does this – but unbeknown to him/her, the caller keeps the telephone line open (there will be no dial tone). The phone call is then ‘answered’ by a female and she was then ‘transfers’ the victim over to another male who claims to work in the bank’s Fraud Department.

He advises the victim that that their finances are at risk of fraud and they must transfer their money into ‘safe accounts’ immediately; he then manipulates the unsuspecting victim into transferring their savings into these new ‘safe accounts’.

A call of this nature is upsetting, and that’s what the fraudsters rely on – they stress the urgency of the need to act NOW to protect your funds and they don’t give victims the time to think.

If you have even the slightest of concerns or are suspicious in any way, hang up and use a mobile phone to call your bank – always call back from a different phone.

Honest motorists to benefit from insurance fraud crackdown

The price of an average motor insurance premium has seen a record fall of more than £100 over the past year, according to the latest AA statistics. The Westminster Government says reforms to tackle the growth of compensation culture and help hardworking people have made a major contribution to this fall.

The government has now pledged to do more and it has welcomed assurances from the insurance industry that they will continue to do their part by passing on any savings that result from these reforms straight on to customers.

Despite the fall in average insurance premiums, recent figures from the Association of British Insurers have shown that the number of dishonest motor claims increased by 34% to a record 59,900 in 2013, with a value of £811 million.

A new package of measures to tackle insurance fraudsters and dishonest claims has been announced which will reduce the amount being paid out unnecessarily by insurance companies on fraudulent claims and enable them to pass on savings to honest customers.

These will affect bogus claims, both motor claims and others such as ‘trips and slips’ at work and in public places.

They include:

Requiring courts to throw out compensation applications in full where the claimant has been fundamentally dishonest – to stop people who have had an accident from exploiting the system by making bogus claims or grossly exaggerating the extent of their injuries
Plans to ban lawyers from encouraging people to make claims by offering them incentives like cash or iPads
Reducing questionable whiplash claims by improving medical assessments, ensuring they are only conducted by independent accredited professionals, and setting fixed fees for medical reports this year
Introducing new rules this year to restrict the practice of settling whiplash claims without confirmation of the claimant’s injury.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: “We are making sure we do our bit to help drivers with the cost of running a car, and putting money back in their pockets.

“Insurance premiums have fallen by record amounts over the past year as we have turned the tide on the compensation culture but there is more to do. We are continuing to go after the fraudsters who force up costs for honest drivers.”

The new measures are the latest stage of the government’s delivery on the commitment to deal with high insurance costs made by the Prime Minister at an insurance summit in 2012. The latest Association of British Insurers average motor insurance premium tracker shows the average price of fully comprehensive insurance cover has reduced by 14% over the last year.

UK Government Roads Minister Robert Goodwill said: “The costs of owning and running a car are felt by millions of households and businesses across the country and this government is determined to help keep those costs down. Insurance premiums have fallen but we are keen to do more with the industry to drive down costs further.”

Association of British Insurers Director General Otto Thoresen said: “These changes are a very positive development for the vast majority of honest insurance customers who end up paying for the fraud of the minority. We applaud the decision to ban the distasteful advertising which offers cash or other inducements for personal injury claims. This only serves to reinforce to unscrupulous claimants that there is a compensation culture to exploit.”

Don’t fall for early pension cash scam

Have you reached an email or letter recently offering you the opportunity to make some quick cash by surrendering your pension plans early? In these cash-strapped times the offer of ready money may sound tempting, but the chances are the deal really is too good to be true.

A hard-hitting information campaign for consumers and pensions professionals has just been launched as part of an ongoing multi-agency crackdown on predators claiming to be able to release pensions cash as a loan or lump sum before the law allows.

According to The Pensions Regulator, the perpetrators often work alongside ‘introducers’ or ‘advisers’ who try to entice the public with spam text messages, cold calls or website promotions into transferring their existing workplace or private pension with the promise of being able to release a portion as cash before the age of 55.

People may be misled or not properly informed that tax charges and fees can erode their pension pot by more than half, leaving them with little to live on in retirement.
The remainder of their funds are likely to be invested in highly dubious and risky, unregulated investment structures, often based overseas.

The amount that has been ‘liberated’ from pension schemes in this way is known to be in the hundreds of millions of pounds, with thousands of members affected.
To combat this, The Pensions Regulator has worked with other agencies to produce information, carrying distinctive scorpion imagery, illustrating the threat to people’s pensions if they are taken in by such offers.

The new information includes:
A warning insert that administrators and pension providers will be asked to include in the information they provide to members who request a transfer of their pension.
A more detailed information leaflet for members looking to understand the consequences of these offers, which will be hosted on The Pensions Advisory Service website.
An action pack for pension professionals, including a checklist and examples of what to look out for.

Where administrators receive a transfer request and detect the warning signs of liberation, such as pension money being passed back to the member before age 55, they may wish to consider whether to make the transfer, and report their concerns to Action Fraud. The action pack includes more information to help them with this decision.

If you think you may have been a victim, or if you have information regarding pension liberation fraud, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.