WELCOME TO the official blog of Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association (BBNWA), Bexleyheath Police Station, 2 Arnsberg Way, Bexleyheath, Kent DA7 4QS. Mobile Tel: 07496 385471 bexleynw@outlook.com
Pick Pockets post in Nextdoor:-
"My partner took my mother in law to Bexleyheath today and got her some money out and gave her the card back. She is in her eighties and likes to be independent. She went in the charity shop next door while he waited outside for her. Within less than 10 minutes his phone was coming up with notifications of purchases in a different shop. Luckily it’s a Monzo card so froze it straight away and followed by loads of declined messages. It seems they are hanging about charity shops waiting for old and vulnerable people. 😟"
Get some bell jingles as a crime prevention measure for any vulnerable person you know that can be attached to the purse itself and makes a loud noise to deter any would be pick pocketer.
Or purchase the minder jingles online :-
Contact Bexley Watch or visit the crime prevention shop in Bluewater for one.
Get an NHS COVID Pass, find out who can get one, how to get one, and what to do if yours has expired from the official links below:-
Get an NHS COVID Pass >. Get an NHS COVID Pass online
More at GOV COVID-19
Bexley Fraud & Cyber Crime March Summary [opens as pdf in new window]
If you receive a call you believe to be fraudulent, hang up. If you are suspicious about an email you have received, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk. Suspicious text messages should be forwarded to the number 7726 which is free of charge.
If you believe you are the victim of a fraud, please report this to Action Fraud as soon as possible by calling 0300 123 2040 or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.
Go to page:-
Go to page:-
LFB Community Engagement Steering Group looking to recruit Forum members.
Please send in your applications to community.engagement@london-fire.gov.uk by 2 May 2022. Details in the attached poster.
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Don’t give your bank details to anyone calling you claiming to be from the Council Tax office and asking for your bank details.
Do NOT provide any bank details as the Council Tax office will not call you to ask for them.
Never allow remote access to your computer following an unsolicited call, text message or browser pop-up. Some of the most common scams reported to Action Fraud involve fraudsters connecting remotely to a victim's computer.
Our guest, the City of London Police, explains how these work and what to do if you encounter one.
Which? found a messy trail of dodgy adverts for keto diet pills making misleading claims all over the internet, posted via search engines, online news outlets and various social media platforms.
Adverts for keto diet pills falsely imply they’re endorsed by celebrities and public figures to lure and deceive shoppers. Here are some examples of the dodgy adverts they found all over the internet.
Scams come in many forms and are always evolving; uninvited contact is received by email, letter, and telephone or in person making false promises to con victims out of money.
Generally, official organisations would never contact you out of the blue or cold call you. If it is uninvited, assume it is a scam. Just hang up! Do not click on any links, or calls asking you to click or press any digit that you receive uninvited. The scammer is after your personal details in doing so to con or scam you.
Hide your pin number wherever you may be required to use it and never let anyone see it or share it. If you are in a restaurant, keep sight of your card and never let the waiter take it away if you pay for your meal that way. If you tap to scan your card to pay, place the long number facing down to avoid your card number being read by any hidden cameras or from public gaze to prevent being scammed. At an ATM, if your card jams in a machine don’t leave that spot call your bank from there and stop your card.
If you have been scammed:-
1) Call your bank (the number is on the back of the card)
2) Remove any software the scammer used to install for remote access, or ask the help of someone you know or trust who can help
3) Change your passwords if the above has happened or your account has been compromised. Always use a different strong password for each account.
4) Report the crime to Action Fraud or call them on 0300 123 2040
5) Ask for a hard copy in the post if the scammer called to put them off. [Beware what details you divulge to get a copy this way - in fact do not do so as you may be sharing them with the scammer].
Be smart - Stay safe and vigilant!
If you receive a call you believe to be fraudulent, hang up. If you are suspicious about an email you have received, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk. Suspicious text messages should be forwarded to the number 7726 which is free of charge.
If you believe you are the victim of a fraud, please report this to Action Fraud as soon as possible by calling 0300 123 2040 or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.
With recent changes to the Covid testing rules, fraudsters are taking the opportunity to capitalise on this by sending text messages asking you to order a test and pay a delivery fee.
Watch our video to find out the scam’s red flags, how to report it and where you can buy genuine Covid tests.
Crypto and forex scams are rife. Fraudsters posing as Binance – the cryptocurrency exchange – are targeting forex scam victims via email. This is a form of advance-fee fraud, where someone who has previously been a victim of fraud is targeted by fraudsters who pretend they can help them recover their money.
The scammers claim to need to speak to the victims about 'funds that are intended to be released to you which were seized from the fake investment company EuropeFX’.
Here’s the lowdown on the fake emails, how fraud recovery scams work and why there are growing concerns about weak consumer protection against scams involving cryptocurrency and foreign exchange (forex or FX) platforms.
Both David Lloyd Clubs and PureGym are being spoofed in fake emails encouraging recipients to enter competitions to ‘win a membership’.
David Lloyd Clubs and PureGym have both confirmed to Which? that the emails are nothing to do with them. PureGym is working to get the fake website the email links to taken down.
Rav Wilding is hunting down the scammers plaguing our lives. Working with ethical hackers to hack into the fraudsters’ illegal call centres, Rav uses cutting-edge technology to monitor the scammers’ phone calls in an effort to stop victims losing out to real-time scams.
Working with ethical hackers, Rav Wilding is hunting down the scammers plaguing our lives. He uses cutting-edge technology to monitor scammers’ phone calls in an effort to stop the victims losing out to real-time scams. It’s then a race against the criminals to contact the victim and intercept the scam before any money is handed over to the crooks. The show also explores the biggest anti-social issues troubling UK neighbourhoods, such as bike theft, fly-tipping and romance scams, and Rav meets the local heroes using their own time and resources to tackle these problems head-on. And there’s everything you need to know to keep yourself safe from the scammers.
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Victims reported losing a total of £57,790,384 – an average loss of £2,868 per victim.
What are remote access tool scams?
Remote access tool scams will often begin with a browser pop-up saying that your computer is infected with a virus, or with a call from someone claiming to be from your bank saying that they need to connect to your computer in order to cancel a fraudulent transaction on your account.
Criminals will try to persuade the victim to download and connect via a remote access tool, which allows the criminal to gain access to the victims computer or mobile phone. If the victim allows the criminal connection via the tool, they are able to steal money and access the victims banking information.
Detective Chief Inspector Craig Mullish, from the City of London Police, said:
"While remote access tools are safe when used legitimately, we want the public to be aware that they can be misused by criminals to perpetrate fraud. We often see criminals posing as legitimate businesses in order to trick people into handing over control of their computer or smartphone.
“You should only install software or grant remote access to your computer if you’re asked by someone you know and trust, such as a friend or family member, and never as a result of an unsolicited call, browser pop-up or text message.”
In one case, a victim lost over £20,000 after they received a call from someone claiming to be from Sky stating that there was a problem with their Sky box. The suspect persuaded the victim to download a remote access tool to their device which enabled the suspect to access the victim’s online banking and make a number of transfers to an account under the suspect’s control.
Another victim lost over £1,000 after they received a call from someone claiming to be from Amazon stating that they were processing a payment for an Amazon Prime membership. The victim told the suspect that they hadn’t subscribed to Amazon Prime but clicked on a link provided by the suspect to cancel the membership. The link downloaded a remote access tool to their device which enabled the suspect to access the victim’s online banking and empty their account.
The warning comes as Action Fraud launched a new national awareness campaign this week to increase awareness around the safe use of remote access tools and to remind the public to think twice before allowing somebody you don’t know access to your device.
How to protect yourself
Action Fraud also advises that the public follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign to keep themselves safe from fraud.
