Here is the weekly update from Croydon Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association (CBNWA)
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The update reads:
CBNWA weekly update for 28th April 2015
TRADING STANDARDS TEAM AND BANK UNITE TO FOIL SCAM
The council’s trading standards team and a town- centre bank prevented an elderly resident losing thousands of pounds to conmen. Read more.
WARNING: CLONED NATIONAL SAVINGS & INVESTMENTS WEBSITE
Fraudsters have set up a bogus website claiming to be the official site of National Savings & Investments (NS&I) and are contacting members of the public, cold calling them and offering them the chance to invest in 65+ Bonds (also known as Pensioner Bonds).
Members of the public who are searching for the official website (for example on search engines) may be directed to the fake one which then asks them to supply contact information.
Victims are then receiving a follow up e-mail and/or phone call from the fraudsters who are requesting evidence of identity documents and bank account details either over the phone or by sending the victims fake forms to fill out. A common name that appears on the emails sent by the fraudsters is ‘Kevin Archer’.
Protect yourself:
- Do not pass personal or banking information to companies that cold call you.
- Please note that the only domain name (website address) that is legitimate is www.nsandi.com
- NS&I do not make sales calls to potential customers (cold calls).
If you have been a victim of fraud or suspect a company of fraud please contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via the online reporting tool.
UPDATE FROM COULSDON WEST SNT
Please can you be aware that burglary has started to rise in the Coulsdon West area again.
Make sure that foliage at the front of your property is short so that neighbours can check your property easily. If you haven’t joined a Neighbourhood Watch consider setting one up in your road.
Contact Neighbourhood watch manager at nhw@cbnwa.com (Katie Breen)
Remove items such as wheelie bins from outside of property, so as not give the burglar the chance to easily step over a back gate. If renewing your side gates think about transparency and fitting a metal bar construction gate that makes your premises are more secure, but neighbours can see through it so to stop some one hiding behind the location.
Use plants in your garden for natural defences, roses, holly etc, make sure that your fence is an appropriate height so that if a house is burgled up the road the burglar can not skip over a low fence to get out of your property or even burgle your property from the rear.
Mark large pieces of electrical equipment in your house with a UV pen putting your postcode and house number on the rear or underside of the device i.e. television, computer. Record the special code from your phone (IMEI) to abstract this information go to your telephone keypad of your mobile phone put in *#06# and record the 16-20 digit number safely else where. If your service provider is Vodaphone dial *#100# to get your code.
If you have large amounts of jewellery in the house who ever owns it get them to wear it and take a picture of them – on the reverse of the photo state whether or not it’s gold/silver/platinum etc length of chain, carat type and weight and any precious stones, what it cost you and what date it was purchased or given to you. Give this to someone else in your family to keep as a record.
Fit appropriate deadlocks to your doors front and back at least 5 lever are recommended by the Metropolitan Police. if you have sliding patio door remember to fit 2 anti lifting devices on these doors to stop the glass being lifted out. Ensure extra locks on double glazing are fitted as a 3 lever lock isn’t sufficient to secure it.
Increase the security of your house considering CCTV and alarm systems more outside efficient lighting, when researching these products on the internet DO NOT put your home address on websites as you are telling an unknown source that your property needs extra security. If you have a porch door lock it at night, if you don’t make sure you double lock your door and take the key out of the door Use other bolts on locks on your rear doors to make them more secure.
Consider getting your detail unregegistered from the internet companies i.e. 192.com
send a CO1 Request form to 192.com to have your details removed from your details on their website.
If going on holiday for more than a week, make sure you inform someone so they can check your property; consider telling the police, making sure you tell them a contact telephone number of someone who has access to your property on the local police e-mail site DO NOT PHONE 999 or 101.
If an alarm sounds in your road please don’t turn up your TV etc look and see if one of your neighbours is getting burgled then dial 999 any unusual occurrences in your road we would like to know about i.e. suspicious vehicles, people etc. Tell the Police operator the description and the property address, we would rather be called out to check and possibly catch someone. You won’t be told off by us by being a good neighbour.
Always ASK for ID if someone knocks on your door – If you want CRIME PREVENTION ADVICE ask the team and they will try to set an appropriate appointment for you.
In the words of Shaw Taylor from Police 5 – “keep them peeled”
PCSO 7206 Colin Ham
Coulsdon West Safer Neighbourhood Team
Email – CoulsdonWest.snt@met.police.uk
Tel – 020 8721 2465
NEW CONTACT NUMBER FOR PURLEY SNT
The new contact number for Purley SNT is 07920 233892.
When the team are not on duty the phone will be diverted the central cluster phone at Addington Police Station where the messages are checked on a daily basis.
INFORMATION FROM OUR MEMBERS
Information from a N/W member: “During the early afternoon on 20th April three youths were seen walking along Davidson Road picking up glass items from people’s front gardens, particularly bottles from recycling bins, and smashing them in the road and throwing them at passing cars. One of the youths was also seen to try the handle of a nearby parked car.
Other residents may wish to remind themselves to secure their vehicles if parked outside their houses and consider if recycling bins could be put outside closer to collection day to avoid people interfering with their rubbish”.
Reports of another email scam claiming to be from Nat West Bank which warns that your account has not been updated. If you do not click on the link within 24 hours the account will be suspended. The link leads to a fake website, http://www.nwolb.com, which has now been closed down by the real Nat West Bank.
SPAM EMAILS PRETENDING TO BE FROM APPLE ITUNES
Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) have been made aware that there are currently a number of emails being sent out that appear to be coming from Apple iTunes, detailing a recent purchase.
The email states that if customers did not purchase the item they should click on the link provided to obtain a refund. Once redirected to a web page they are asked to fill out their card and other personal details. This is a spam email with links to a malicious web page that is being used to harvest personal details, possibly in order to access victim’s bank accounts.
Protect yourself:
• Double check where the email has come from before clicking on the link
• Check your iTunes account for recent activity
• Consider contacting iTunes separately to double check your account activity
• Remember iTunes will not request your personal details via email or through attached links
• If you have filled in one of the forms, do not use online banking until you have had your computer checked out by an expert. Also consider contacting your bank to make them aware of the situation – money held in your account may be at risk.
MET POLICE CRIME MAPPING
The Met Crime Mapping site has been created to help show you what crime has been committed in neighbourhoods across the capital. The previous link given does not appear to work on some computers so to view go to: www.met.police.uk. On the first page under ‘How do I’ click on ‘view crime maps for local crime statistics’ on the map page in the search box (top left) enter Croydon. At the top right of the page click on the INFO tab to refine the map area and select crime types.
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Details for CROYDON NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Please contact our Neighbourhood Watch Manager (Katie Moore) for any general queries, co-ordinator updates or if your contact details change.
CBNWA office details
Telephone: 020 8555 1200 ext. 37637 (there is an answer phone for when the office is unmanned).
Email: nhw@cbnwa.com
Postal: CBNWA c/o Croydon Fire Station. 90 Old Town, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 1AR.
If you have any Neighbourhood Watch/scam information for the weekly update messages please send them to John Skinner at cbnwa@croydonwatch.org.uk
You can follow on Twitter at @CBNWA
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