Council’s Trading Standards team tackles bogus callers

Arran residents are being urged to install ‘call blockers’ to their telephones, in an aim to stop telephone scams and fraud.

More than 5,000 calls from telephone fraudsters have been stopped from reaching some North Ayrshire’s most vulnerable residents in the past six months – thanks to the efforts of the council’s Trading Standards team.

Brazen swindlers and dishonest salespeople – many of whom are based overseas – often choose to target their victims using the telephone.

These scammers have been known to pose as legitimate organisations such as banks or other official bodies before attempting to con residents out of their cash and personal details or tricking them into buying things they don’t need.

However, earlier this year, the council’s Trading Standards team took a proactive approach to protect local people.

A number of vulnerable people have now been referred to Trading Standards following concern about the volume of calls they were receiving and they have had a call blocker installed in their home.

The device ensures only trusted sources can get through and stops bogus callers in their tracks before the homeowner’s phone ever rings.

And in the last six months a total of 5,067 bogus calls, many of which were in Arran, have been stopped from reaching their intended targets across North Ayrshire.

Proactive

Councillor Marie Burns, Cabinet Member for Economy and Employment, said: ‘It’s great to see that the proactive measures our Trading Standards team has taken against bogus callers have had such a telling impact.

‘Our call blocker initiative has improved the lives of a number of our residents and has enabled them to feel safer and more secure in their own homes.

‘The fraudsters behind many telephone scams don’t care about the lasting impact their actions have on their victims which is why it’s so important for us to do everything we can to stop them and ensure we protect our residents,’ Councillor Burns added.

Mary, one of the residents to have benefited from a call blocker installed by the team, had previously been driven to breaking point by the number of bogus calls she was receiving every day.

But since having her device installed she said she has never looked back.

She added: ‘I can’t see by it - It’s a brilliant invention. It’s great, it lets me know if it’s family and friends calling.

‘It has taken so much stress away and now I don’t need to worry about who is calling.’

For more information or advice, contact North Ayrshire Council’s Trading Standards team on 01294 310100.