Roof fire - Erith 🔥

Six fire engines and around 30 firefighters responded to a fire on Collins Way, Erith.

The fire was located in a semi-detached house of three floors. The buildings roof has destroyed by the fire and collapsed. The second floor of the property has also been destroyed as a result of the roof structure failing. One of the Brigade's 32m ladders was deployed to the scene to help firefighters tackle the flames from height. There are no reports of any injuries.

The Brigade was first called about the incident at 1250, and crews from Bexley, Erith, Greenwich and surrounding fire stations were mobilised to the scene. Firefighters had the incident under control by 1436. 

The cause of the fire is not yet known. 

Source: LFB (15/07/2026)

What is the HM Land Registry Property Alert Service?

The Property Alert service is a free monitoring service provided by HM Land Registry for properties in England and Wales. It acts like a digital security alarm for your property deeds, immediately notifying you if there is any significant official activity on your property's record.

How It Works

• Free to Use: Setting up an account and monitoring properties costs absolutely nothing.

• Monitor Multiple Homes: You can monitor up to 10 properties at the same time.

• You Don't Need to Own the Property: You can monitor your own home, a buy-to-let property, or the home of a vulnerable relative to help protect them.

• Instant Notifications: You will receive an email alert the moment HM Land Registry receives an application or a search request against the property (for example, if someone tries to take out a new mortgage or change the ownership details).

What the Alerts Tell You

If an alert is triggered, the email will tell you:

• The type of activity taking place.

• Who the applicant is.

• The exact date and time the request was received.

Please Note: The alert system itself does not automatically block transactions. It is designed to give you an early warning. If you receive an alert about a transaction you didn't authorise, you must act quickly and contact the Land Registry's property fraud team to stop it.

Ready to protect your home?

• Set up your alerts: Create a free account directly on the GOV.UK Property Alert page.

• Learn about further protection: If you want to proactively block unauthorized sales (and not just get alerts), read the main GOV.UK guide to protecting your land and property from fraud to learn about entering a protective "Form LL" restriction.

• Watch the expert advice: To see how these security layers work in practice, watch the HM Land Registry video guide on property fraud.

   

   

  Visit https://www.instagram.com/reel/DavXZ3RgO9F/ for further information.

   

Outlawing the Outlaws: How the UK’s SIM Farm Ban is Shutting Down Bulk Fraud

The UK is set to become the first country in Europe to officially ban the possession and supply of "SIM farms".Passed under the landmark Crime and Policing Act 2026, this legislation directly outlaws the physical tools criminals use to orchestrate bulk text message scams, marking a major leap forward in the fight against cyber-enabled fraud.

With fraud accounting for more than 40% of all reported crime in England and Wales, the ban provides law enforcement with a crucial weapon to disrupt scammers at their source.

What is a SIM Farm?

Also known as a SIM box, a SIM farm is a physical electronic device capable of holding five or more SIM cards simultaneously or interchangeably.

By connecting these boxes to a computer, fraudsters can send thousands of text messages or place automated phone calls at the touch of a button. Previously, these low-cost devices were easily purchasable online with zero identity verification, making them highly accessible to criminal gangs.

How Criminals Exploit Them

Before this legislation, SIM farms served as the engines behind some of the UK’s most persistent scam campaigns:

• Industrial-Scale Smishing: Criminals use them to blast out hundreds of thousands of fake parcel-delivery notifications, tax rebate warnings, or bank alerts in minutes.

• Creating Fake Accounts: Scammers use SIM farms to rapidly receive SMS verification codes, allowing them to mass-generate "verified" fake profiles on social media and messaging apps.

• Evading Detection: By routing messages across many different PAYG (pay-as-you-go) SIM cards, criminals could easily bypass standard telecom security filters.

How the Ban Helps Protect the Public

The new law introduces a powerful shift in how the police can prosecute fraudsters.

Old System	Under the Crime and Policing Act
Proof of Intent Required: Police had to catch fraudsters actively using the devices to commit a scam to secure a prosecution.	Illegal to Possess: Simply possessing, importing, or supplying a SIM farm without a legally proven, legitimate reason is now a criminal offence in its own right.
No Barriers to Entry: Devices were cheap, unregulated, and widely available to purchase online without ID checks.	Heavy Penalties: Offenders face unlimited fines in England and Wales, and a £5,000 fine in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Voluntary Industry Blocklists: Networks tried to block numbers, but criminals could quickly swap SIM cards.	Stops the Supply: Shuts down the local distribution of the hardware itself, forcing criminals to use more expensive, easily tracked web alternatives.

Legitimate Exceptions: The law does include protections for legitimate industries that use SIM multiplexers—such as public transport Wi-Fi routing, emergency broadcasting services, and telecom network testing.

By combining this ban with Ofcom's new rules restricting text volumes on PAYG cards, the UK is successfully dismantling the cheap, high-volume infrastructure that has plagued mobile users for years.

Ofcom’s rules target a major loophole used by international scammers. Scammers abroad know we are far more likely to answer a call displaying a familiar UK mobile number (+447) than an unknown international country code.

Stopping this trick—known as Caller ID spoofing—is technically much harder for mobile numbers than it is for landlines. This is because roaming is a legitimate feature; a real UK mobile user needs to be able to make calls from Spain or the US and still display their genuine +447 number to friends back home. (Ofcom)

To solve this, Ofcom has introduced a clever two-pronged strategy targeting both network-level blocking and a new "withhold and verify" protocol.

1. Stopping Landline Spoofing (The Foundation)

To understand how Ofcom is tackling mobile numbers, it helps to look at what they have already successfully rolled out for landlines.

• Blocking Network Numbers: Telecoms providers must block international calls where the Network Number (the hidden background data showing where a call is physically routed from) is disguised as a UK landline.

• Blocking Presentation Numbers: Providers must block calls from abroad that try to display a UK landline as a Presentation Number (the caller ID number you actually see on your screen).

• The Result: When BT voluntarily piloted this rule, they successfully blocked up to 1 million scam calls a day from entering their network.

2. The New Mobile Spoofing Rules: "Withhold and Verify"

Because direct blocking would accidentally cut off legitimate UK tourists calling home from abroad, Ofcom’s latest guidance introduces a dynamic verification model:

      Incoming International Call (carrying a UK +447 number)
                                │
                                ▼
         Can the UK home network verify the SIM is roaming?
                     /                      \
                   YES                       NO
                   /                          \
                  ▼                            ▼
        [ Allow Caller ID ]           [ Withhold Caller ID ]
     Displays "+447..." to user      Displays "Number Withheld"

• Automatic ID Withholding: If an incoming call originates from an international network but presents a UK mobile (+447) number, the UK gateway provider must automatically strip away the caller ID and display the call as "Number Withheld" or "Unknown".

• The Roaming Verification Bypass: The original, genuine UK caller ID will only be restored if the recipient's home network can securely verify that the customer's actual SIM card is genuinely roaming on an overseas partner network.

• Protecting Legitimate Businesses: If a legitimate UK business operates an offshore call centre, they can only present their UK business number if they route their calls through verified, authenticated VoIP or cloud-PBX systems that prove their legal connection to a UK network.

Why This is Highly Effective

While scammers can still physically place the call, they can no longer trick you by displaying a fake, trusted UK mobile number.

Instead, their call will show up on your screen as "Withheld" or "Unknown." Because only 9% of UK consumers say they are likely to answer an unknown or withheld international call, the financial incentive for overseas criminal networks to target the UK is heavily disrupted.

Important: While these measures block a massive portion of automated spam, keep exercising caution with unexpected calls from withheld numbers, and never share security codes or transfer money over the phone.

 

How to Block Mobile Ads System-Wide (Without Downloading an App)

We’ve all been there: you’re trying to read an article or play a mobile game, and you are absolutely bombarded by pop-ups, banners, and auto-playing video ads.

While you can install ad-blocking extensions on desktop browsers, mobile devices are notoriously tricky. But what if you could block ads, trackers, and malicious domains across your entire phone—inside apps, games, and browsers—without downloading a single app or draining your battery?

Enter AdGuard DNS. By changing just one simple setting on your phone, you can route your web requests through a secure, ad-filtering server.

Here is everything you need to know about how it works, the pros and cons, and how to set it up in under two minutes.

AdGuard DNS filters web traffic at the domain level before ads can reach your mobile.. Source: Google Play

 

What is AdGuard DNS?

Whenever you visit a website (like google.com), your phone uses a Domain Name System (DNS) to translate that human-readable name into a computer-friendly IP address. Normally, this lookup is handled automatically by your mobile carrier or public Wi-Fi provider.

AdGuard DNS replaces your provider's default directory. When a game or website tries to load an ad or a tracker, AdGuard simply refuses to look up that specific domain, blocking the ad before it even has a chance to download to your device.

The Pros: Why You Should Try It

• Zero Battery or RAM Drain: Traditional ad-blocking apps run constantly in the background, hogging your device's memory and draining the battery. Because AdGuard DNS is configured natively in your phone’s operating system settings, it uses absolutely no extra resources.

• System-Wide Protection: It doesn’t just clean up your mobile web browser; it blocks trackers and advertisements inside your apps and games too.

• Encrypted Privacy (DNS-over-TLS): Standard DNS requests are sent in plain text, meaning your mobile provider or a dodgy café Wi-Fi host can spy on the sites you visit. Configuring a "Private DNS" encrypts these queries, keeping your browsing habits private.

• A Strict No-Logs Policy: AdGuard has a highly transparent privacy policy. For their public DNS service, they do not log your IP address or track the domains you visit.

The Cons: The Trade-offs to Keep in Mind

As brilliant as this method is, it is not without a few minor quirks:

• An "All-or-Nothing" Approach: Because there is no app interface to quickly toggle on and off, you can't easily "pause" the blocking if a website breaks. If a retail link (like a sponsored Google Shopping search result) won't open, you have to dig back into your system settings to turn the Private DNS off temporarily.

• Blank Spaces on Webpages: AdGuard DNS stops ad content from loading, but it cannot rewrite the code of the webpage you are viewing. You may occasionally see empty grey boxes or awkward blank spaces where an ad was supposed to sit.

• It Can't Block First-Party Ads: Because it blocks ads at the domain level, it cannot stop ads that are served directly from the same servers as the content. This means ads on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok will still get through.

How to Set It Up

To get started, you just need to choose which server profile suits your needs:

Profile Mode	Hostname to Copy/Paste	Best For
Default (Standard)	dns.adguard-dns.com	Standard ad, tracker, and malware blocking.
Family Protection	family.adguard-dns.com	Blocks ads, blocks adult content, and forces SafeSearch.

On Android (Android 9 and newer)

1. Open your phone's Settings and go to Network & Internet (sometimes called Connections).

2. Tap Private DNS (this is often located under "Advanced" or "More connection settings").

3. Select Private DNS provider hostname.

4. Paste your chosen hostname (e.g., dns.adguard-dns.com) and tap Save.

On iOS (iPhone & iPad)

Apple does not allow you to manually type in a custom DNS hostname directly within the native iOS settings. Instead, you have to use a lightweight configuration profile:

1. Head to the official AdGuard DNS Setup Page.

2. Select iOS and download their official configuration profile.

3. Open your iPhone's Settings, tap Profile Downloaded at the top of the screen, and follow the prompts to install it.

(Note: While you may see older guides referencing dns.adguard.com, the official and updated hostname to use is dns.adguard-dns.com.)

The Verdict: If you want a free, set-and-forget way to make your mobile browsing cleaner, faster, and significantly more private, setting up AdGuard DNS is an absolute no-brainer.

Ofcom Announces Tough New Rules to Defeat Mobile Scammers

Mobile phone users in the UK are set to receive much stronger protection from scam texts and "spoofed" calls, following a robust package of measures finalised by Ofcom today.

With fraud making up roughly 45% of all reported crime in England and Wales, these new rules aim to shut down the gaps that international criminal gangs exploit to target British consumers and businesses.

How scammers exploit mobile networks. Source: ISP Review

 

Why Now? The Scale of the Problem

• The Cost: In 2025 alone, victims in the UK lost a staggering £1.28 billion to fraudsters.

• The Reach: Four in ten (40%) UK mobile users report receiving at least one suspicious message in the last three months.

To address this, the UK communications regulator is introducing strict new requirements for mobile providers to intercept scams at their source.

How the New Rules Work

The strategy splits mobile scams into two main categories: person-to-person (P2P) and business (A2P) messaging, applying targeted rules to block both.

1. Person-to-Person (P2P) Scams

These occur when a fraudster uses a standard SIM card to impersonate a friend or family member in distress (e.g., the infamous "Hi Mum" text).

• Action taken: Providers must collect scam data from customers and anti-fraud organisations, block identified numbers, and dynamically filter out messages containing known malicious weblinks or phone numbers in transit.

• Volume Limits: Strictly limiting the number of texts that can be sent from pay-as-you-go SIM cards to prevent automated mass-messaging.

2. Business Messaging Scams

This is where scammers hijack or fake corporate sender names (like bank or courier names) to make their phishing links look authentic.

• "Know Your Customer" (KYC): Strict background checks on new businesses before they can send mass messages.

• Sender ID Verification: Providers must verify that the business sending a text actually owns the sender ID (e.g., stopping a sender claiming to be a delivery company if they are registered as a local hair salon).

• Incident Management: Swiftly rooting out scammers and holding platforms accountable if they fail to perform proper due diligence.

Cracking Down on "Spoofed" Foreign Calls

Additionally, Ofcom is tackling the menace of international calls that disguise themselves with UK mobile numbers to trick people into answering.

Under the updated guidance, UK telecoms networks must withhold caller ID displays for any incoming international call mimicking a UK mobile number—unless the network can prove the caller is a legitimate UK customer roaming abroad.

What You Can Do

While these network-level defences will significantly reduce the number of scam messages slipping through, some may still occasionally bypass filters.

Important: If you receive a suspicious text, call, or message, you can help train the network filters by forwarding the message or reporting the number to 7726 (which spells "SPAM" on an alphanumeric keypad). This service is completely free and helps providers quickly shut down active scam runs.

If you have fallen victim to a scam and lost money, report it immediately to Action Fraud (by visiting www.reportfraud.police.uk or calling 0300 123 2040) or to Police Scotland by calling 101.

Source: Ofcom 

A shockingly sophisticated email scam

One of our Travel experts, Trevor Baker, was recently targeted with a well-researched scam attempt. Years after he published a book, he was contacted by someone claiming to be a literary agent from the publishing house Hachette.

The scam was extremely sophisticated, using the image and contact information for a real employee at the publisher, making it almost undetectable. Our fraud expert Faye Lipson explains what the scammer wanted and how they managed to create such a convincing targeted scam.

Source: Which? (08 Jul 2026) 

Phone scams we're seeing right now

Three quarters of Brits received a scam call last year, with victims each losing an average of £784. The rise of artificial intelligence, which enables nasty tactics like voice cloning, makes them increasingly difficult to spot.

Our scams expert, Tali Ramsey, has rounded up the latest phone scams you're likely to encounter. Check out the full list, including a convincing call that referenced legitimate emails and texts from Lloyds Bank.

Source: Which? (09 Jul 2026)