The last of our information updates to accompany the 2021 Neighbourhood Watch Week which runs from 5th to 11th June and so ends today. Whatever you, your neighbours or your members of your Neighbourhood Watch Group are up to this week, remember that the theme is around strong communities. So hopefully you can share the information we’re sharing this week with others. And if you want to tell us what you’re up to this week or get in touch for support then please do. Email me at karl@nelwatch.org.uk
Each Friday we try and publish a Fraud (Scam) bulletin to this website. As today is the last day of Neighbourhood Watch Week 2021, it seemed appropriate to end with a few Fraud related updates and pieces of information. Please use Neighbourhood Watch Week as your excuse to talk to your friends, family and neighbours about protecting themselves against frauds and scams.
So, in no particular order…
OurWatch has a series of Fraud Awareness Webinars scheduled between 6th and 30th July 2021. As far as I can see these are all free, but booking is essential and these webinars usually fill up quickly. So read about them all here and get booking:
The seminars are:
6th July, 5pm – Exploring the psychology behind scams and how scammers are so effective at their crimes
14th July, 5pm – Insights into how a fraud case is investigated and how not to be the next victim
23rd July 5pm – Scams awareness training from the Friends Against Scams initiative
30th July, 5pm – Don’t get hooked by scammers! What you need to know about flubot and phishing scams
There is also lots of advice about scams in the latest June e-news from OurWatch. Read it here. Particularly interesting is the report on Fraud Trends and Emerging Issues. Read it in the e-newsletter or you can take a look at the full report here. (It’s only 3 pages long). As always, share anything you know about scams and fraud with your neighbours, friends and family – you never know what will help someone avoid becoming a victim.
Although the Census is long gone, scams related to it are still out there. Read about the scams on the Which website here If you get a text message or email about the census, make sure you do a proper investigation before following up on it.
If you’re on social media then it’s worth being wary of the latest WhatsApp scam. You can read about this here.
Who do you bank with? Whoever it is, visit their website and check out their advice on avoiding scams and fraud. Each bank is working hard to make sure banking with them is as safe as it can possibly be. Barclays is an example – visit their website here for plenty of advice. Why not take a bit of time to checkout this advice and look for advice from your own bank.
And finally – a bit of serious ‘fun’ from the Humberside PCC website as part of their Say No to Fraud campaign. There are a series of cyber related ‘quizzes’ here and each of them will help you see how much you know about fraud and scams. Have a go and you’re bound to learn something too!
Stay safe.