A lottery scam takes place when criminals pretend that you have won a prize, often a lottery. The people most likely to fall victim to this tend to be over the age of 60 (although younger people do fall victim too) – but we know that it is often close family members of victims who spot the tell-tale signs of the fraud.
Criminals will normally get in touch by letter or email and will try to engage you into dialogue with them. Once they have convinced you that they are “genuine”, they will ask for a fee to be paid to release your winnings. This fee could be to pay taxes or duty, or for a solicitor, banker or judge to authorise the transaction. NO GENUINE LOTTERY WILL EVER ASK FOR ANY SORT OF FEE TO BE PAID.
Often this first fee will be small, but once they know you are willing to pay it they will ask for more and more money, with ever-changing excuses as to why they need it. Victims can end up losing tens of thousands of pounds over the course of months or even years.
Many of you reading will be surprised that this type of crime takes place. After all, why would anyone fall prey to scam like this when they never entered any such lottery in the first place? Why would they have to pay money when they are supposed to have won millions of pounds? The sad truth is that these criminals are incredibly persuasive and prey on people who are very trusting. Therefore, even if you know that you would not get defrauded like this, please spread this message widely to friends, family and to people within your community.
Prevention:
- If you have not entered a lottery or a prize draw, you have not won it.
- Delete any emails which detail you winning money or being in a position to make a fortune
- Spread the message amongst people you come into contact with, especially older people in your family, and look out for any unusual behaviour, for instance someone paying money via money service bureaux, like Western Union or MoneyGram, or buying Ukash vouchers.
Thames Valley Police is asking local businesses in the South and Vale Local Police Area (LPA) to raise their awareness after a series of burglaries in which safes were targeted.
There have been three night-time burglaries in recent weeks which officers believe may be part of a series by the same offenders targeting commercial premises.
The first was in Uffington at about 1.15am on Thursday 16 October. Offenders gained entry by forcing the doors of the Post Office in Broad Street. Once inside, they conducted an untidy search and stole cigarettes and tobacco.
In the second, thieves targeted the Timpson store in the Marcham Road, Abingdon branch of Tesco. Between 6.50pm and 11.25pm on 17 October, offenders forced open the security door at the entrance of the store and then forced the till and the safe. They stole cash, an IPhone and two watches from the safe.
In the most recent offence, thieves forced open the back door of Sweet Fuels Ltd in Challow, near Wantage and stole a safe from the front office overnight between 20 and 21 October.
Inspector Mark Harling, Deputy LPA Commander for South and Vale, said: “We are linking these offences to a number of other offences that have occurred at Shrivenham, Rowstock and Chilton and believe that these are part of a broader series of offences that have been occurring in other parts of the Thames Valley and in other force areas including Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Hampshire.
“The criminals seem to be targeting commercial premises in remote areas, including industrial units and fast food outlets. The investigation into these offences is ongoing with a number of detectives working on the enquiry and liaising with surrounding police forces. Additional patrols have been allocated to the area and will continue until the offenders are identified.
“It is believed that the offenders are visiting the attacked premises prior the offences occurring in order to plan the burglary and we would therefore ask business owners to be vigilant and report any suspicious incidents or visitors to the police. We believe that the offenders may have access to 4x4 style vehicles and on some of the offences two similar 4x4 vehicles have been seen travelling in convoy away from the burglaries.
There are a number of steps business owners can take to help to prevent these offences, including not keeping cash on the premises overnight, making sure their CCTV is working and of a good quality, and using Smartwater to security mark their property. Our local neighbourhood teams and crime reduction advisors are available to visit businesses and give crime reduction advice and tips on how to improve security.
Anyone who has any information about the burglary or wants to report suspicious activity should contact Thames Valley Police via the non-emergency number, 101.
We have received reports recently of some people posing as planning or building control officers to gain access to people's properties under the pretence they're looking into enforcement issues etc. When challenged, they’ve said they were from “planning” and left immediately.
Planning officers can often turn up to a site unannounced, especially planning enforcement officers. However, they will always have photo ID on them, and are always happy to be asked for it and to explain the reason for their visit. Their identity can also be verified by calling the planning office on01491 823740 or by contacting the Customer Service Manager Duncan Grainge on 01491 823711or email: duncan.grainge@southandvale.gov.uk
We would like to ask residents to be extra vigilant about this kind of activity and to ask for ID from anyone who visits unannounced from any organisation. Please report suspicious activity to the Police via the 24 hour non-emergency telephone number 101 or call 999 for crime in progress.
NFU Mutual’s rural crime survey for 2013 has shown that rural crime is down by 19 per cent across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire collectively.
Thames Valley Police is one of the few forces across the Country to have seen a decrease with national figures showing a 5.2 per cent increase in rural crime.
Last year Thames Valley Police made concentrated efforts to tackle rural crime by conducting intensive operations to tackle criminals who target the rural economy, improve security in the rural areas and gain the trust and confidence of the farming communities.
Officers learnt more about how the farming community work and now understand the impact rural crime has on business and livelihoods. The policing activities and new skills implemented throughout the last year are now business as usual for the whole Force and Thames Valley Police will continue to drive crime down further.
NFU Mutual’s Top 10 UK counties by estimated cost of rural crime in 2013:
Cambridgeshire (£2.7m)
Lincolnshire (£2.3m)
Essex (£2.1m)
Kent (£1.8m)
Lancashire (£1.8m)
Suffolk (£1.5m)
North Yorkshire (£1.5m)
Leicestershire (£1.3m)
Co. Antrim (£1.2m)
Somerset (£1.2m)
In Thames Valley, Berkshire Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire showed a combined loss in 2013 of £1.7m
I just had a white male, 30's light brown hair wearing a red jacket knock on my door trying to sell cleaning products.
He had a laminated I.D.
He started off saying he had been a bad boy in the past but now.......
I stopped him there.
The I.D. If you look is a simple message anyone could write and print off, it's not an official I.D.
The one I showed him was, a police I.D. I then pointed out the sticker on my door saying I don't buy or sell at the door. He walked off mumbling under his breath.
If you get a visit today or in the future don't enter into a conversation with them, tell them you don't want anything and close the door. They are trying to con you.
I have received reports of an Asian male driving around the area attempting to sell fish or meat door to door. He's driving a small white van with "DCSolutions" possibly written on the side. He was last seen in the Forest Row area but has been seen in various other places too.
He will knock on doors and ask the occupier to come to the van to look at his goods for sale.
My advice is don't
Tell him politely no thanks and close the door.
He may well have what he claims to be fresh produce in the van and that's what he will show you. What you get is not what you've seen, it's normally rotten, basically it's a con.
It's not a new one it's been happening for years all over the country. Originally they came from the Grimsby / Hull area but now everyone is trying their luck.
Never buy anything from someone calling door to door. Only buy from a known supplier and then only if it's been pre arranged.
It's now the time of year we all try to get our gardens back up to scratch using the various gardening tools and equipment available. Don't leave it on show, make sure it's marked with your postcode in permanent ink, and lock it away after use.
If you don't chances are someone in a white van will help themselves to it.
There have been a number of positive results for the South
Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse.
Within the last financial year we
were the second best performing Local Police Area in Thames Valley delivering:
- 5.6% reduction in Dwelling Burglary.
- 37.4% detection rate in Dwelling
Burglary.
- 37.0% detection rate in Rape.
- 61.3% detection rate in Violence against
the Person with Injury.
- 6% reduction in Violence against the Person with Injury.
LPA
Area Commander Supt Andy Boyd said:
“Once again I am really pleased to inform
you that during the last twelve months we have been able to reduce crime whilst
increasing the number of offenders we have brought to justice. During the last
year we have reduced crime by 0.2%. Whilst this is a modest decrease, it should
be viewed in the context of our success in reducing crime by over 38% in the
last ten years. There were, last year, over a 1000 less victims of crime than
there were two years ago.
“Whilst we are extremely proud of these
achievements we do not under estimate the challenges of maintaining these levels
of performance and we are committed to striving to further reduce
crime.
“Contrary to what some sections of the media would have you
believe, within South
Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse the overwhelming majority of the
public have a great deal of trust and confidence in the Police. It is this
relationship with the public which has enabled us to deliver sustained
reductions in crime; we cannot detect crime without the support of the public.
We rely on the public to tell us when they are victims of crime, to tell us when
they see something suspicious and to give evidence at court in order for us to
bring offenders to justice. It is our role to keep the public safe, we
recognise our unique relationship with the public in which we are reliant on
their trust in order to fulfil our duties, we will endeavour this year to
enhance and build on this relationship.
“We will over the next year
continue to develop our Neighbourhood Watch Schemes and community messaging
across South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse. These schemes enable us
to further develop our relationship with local communities enabling us to let
them know what is happening and how they can help us keep them safe and protect
their property. If you would like to discuss how we can enhance the schemes in
your local area please do let me know and I will arrange for a member of our
neighbourhood team to contact you.
“As I regularly point out we have not
reduced crime on our own and I am extremely grateful for the continuing help and
support from both South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils,
the Community Safety Partnership and all those volunteers who support us through
the Special Constabulary, Neighbourhood Watch and the Neighbourhood Action
Groups.
“Thank you for your support this year, it has been very much
appreciated and I look forward to continuing to work with you over the coming
year”.
