Residents can help stop scams

Monday February 8, 2010

Residents in Hammersmith & Fulham are being urged to help catch conmen who target residents including the elderly and vulnerable.

February is Scams Awareness Month and H&F's Trading Standards team is asking residents to collect any leaflets or letters they receive about bogus lotteries, deceptive prize draws and sweepstakes, fake psychics or miracle health cures.

Residents can then drop these letters and leaflets into special 'Scamnesty' bins that will be around the borough for the whole month. They will be in the reception areas of Fulham and Hammersmith Town Halls, H&F Direct on the first floor of Hammersmith Town Hall Extension, and in Shepherds Bush, Fulham and Hammersmith libraries.

All information gathered will then be shared with the Office of Fair Trading, which could help with future investigations.

For further information visit the Trading Standards homepage, or contact Trading Standards on 020 8753 1081 or email trading_standards@lbhf.gov.uk.

If you think you have been the victim of a scam, or you suspect a scam, call Consumer Direct for advice on 0845 04 05 06 or visit www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/scamnesty (opens new window).