Scambusters are out to sink cruel fraudsters
The number’s up for fraudsters whose scams cost South Lanarkshire victims an estimated £7 million a year.
South Lanarkshire Council’s Consumer and Trading Standards team has launched a ‘Scams Alert Network’ with the aim of beating fraudsters who steal up to £7m each year from the local purse – and cause anguish to their innocent victims.
At the start of a fortnight’s focus on Scams Awareness across the UK, the team has revealed that in 2018 alone they dealt with 350 scam complaints, with an average value of £450 lost to each consumer.
Given that only five per cent of scams are reported, this could be just the tip of the iceberg.
With Uk-wide figures reporting an average loss of £1000 per victim, there could be up to £7m a year disappearing from South Lanarkshire.
Councillor John Anderson, chair of the community and enterprise resources committee, described the figures as “staggering”.
He added: “We think enough is enough. So, we are taking a new approach by launching our Scams Alert Network.
“We want to give people the knowledge and information they need to recognise and avoid scams.
“We want to reduce the financial, physical and mental anguish suffered by victims. We want to minimise the impact scams can have on services across the public sector, not to mention the effect on confidence, leading to isolation, withdrawal from family and community and ultimately even shortening lives.”
The team has received a considerable number of complaints in the past month about council tax rebate scams.
Victims are contacted via SMS, by phone or email and are directed towards a website.
Once they have logged in, they are asked for their bank details to facilitate the ‘rebate.’
There is no rebate and the scammers then have all the details they need to access the victim’s bank account.
The Scams Alert Network will allow the team to pass up-todate scam information to a single point of contact to disseminate throughout organisations.
Councillor Anderson added: “With partner agencies on board, our aim now is to get as many local organisations and indeed individuals signed up.
“By doing so, we can email live details of current scams to each participant, which could make a real difference on the ground.
“Through this network we can provide real time support to potential victims whilst hopefully giving them the tools to spot and avoid a scam next time around.”
To sign up to the South Lanarkshire Scams Alert Network, call the team on 0303 123 1015 or email consumer.enquiries@ southlanarkshire.gov.uk