Consumer Warnings

BEWARE OF VEHICLE MATCHING SCAMS

A scam is a scheme designed to con you out of your cash. Car-matching scams involve canvassers’ cold-calling consumers who have advertised their cars for sale in local newspapers, motor magazines and websites and promising them that there are immediate and specific buyers for their cars. Sellers are induced into paying these companies an advance fee and promised that if their car is not sold they will be offered a refund“. Unfortunately in many cases the promised buyers do not materialize and neither does the promised refund.

Fraudulent car matching designed to con consumers out of their money when no service is intended to be provided or in fact supplied are against the law.

How to protect yourself:

Stop, think and be sceptical if you are cold called and are asked for money in advance.
Don't give your credit or debit card details to people you don't know.
Stop, think and be sceptical if promises are made which gives the impression that there are immediate buyers for your car, that finance has already been arranged for potential buyers, that buyers are willing to pay your asking price or more, there are buyers ready to view your car immediately or that you will be offered a refund if the car does not sell. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
Don’t be pressured into anything
If in doubt about a particular telephone call, hang up

More information on vehicle matching scams can be found on the consumer direct website www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/vehiclematching.

Bogus Holiday Clubs

There are reputable holiday clubs but many are bogus and want to con you out of money. These are some of the danger signs to watch out for:

The Dream

They phone you at home and tell you that you have won a 'free' holiday. Or they approach you on the street whilst on holiday and give you a scratchcard which reveals that you have won a 'free' holiday. All you need to do is go to a presentation to collect your prize and learn more about a new holiday venture. You will be told that this is not about timeshare.

You will later find out that the 'free' holiday isn't free, as you must pay for extras, such as flights and other add-ons and go somewhere you don't want to go at a time that doesn't suit you.

Often the presentation will be at a plush hotel. The brochures will look glossy and convincing. You will be made to feel as if you are joining an exclusive holiday club which will offer exciting and great value holidays all over the world in top class accommodation.

Unlike the law covering timeshare arrangements, you are not necessarily given a chance to cancel if you have second thoughts.

The Reality

Don't believe everything you hear. What the bogus holiday club tells you in the sales pitch and what is in the contract you sign could be two very different things:

'You will have holidays in fabulous places at times of year that fit in with your needs.'
Reality: no dates or destinations are guaranteed and holidays are often not available when and where you want them. You might end up going nowhere.

'You will get your all your cash back after four years.'
Reality: the contract will not guarantee you getting back all your money.
There is also no guarantee that the company will still be here in four years.

'Look how much cheaper we are than the regular tour operators.'
Reality: the advertised discounts are not guaranteed and some deals are available elsewhere anyway. You could end up paying as much as the high street brochure price.

'The holiday club's subscription is worth a lot. You can sell it on later or leave it to your children as a bequest.'
Reality: the resale value may be zero and you may not even be able to find a buyer. There are annual subscription charges to pay whether you use the holiday club or not.

'This club will give you everything you ever wanted from a holiday.'
Reality: the holiday clubs won't be held accountable for any spoken promises made by their sales reps. They will only provide what is agreed to in the contracts that you have signed.

The Contract

Don't be pressurised

The bogus holiday club will try to get you to sign on the spot - but do not let yourself be pressurised - ask for time to think it over. Seek independent advice.

Watch out for the techniques the bogus club uses:

the presentation has lasted so long you are tempted to sign just because you are desperate to leave
you are offered unlimited free alcohol to get you into the mood to sign up
they have made you a special discounted offer only valid for that day
you are not left alone to discuss anything with your partner and you are given very limited time to view the contract.

The Three-Point Checklist

Not all holiday clubs are disreputable. To avoid being caught by a holiday club that is bogus, use this checklist and take your time to think things through:

1. Can you take the contract away and come back in a few days' time with your decision?
2. Do you have any cancellation rights, and are they written down?
3. Is everything in writing in the contract that was promised to you at the presentation?

DO NOT sign anything, no matter how much you are pressurised, unless you are sure it is exactly what you want.

Lotto Fraud

Lotto frauds are becoming prevalent in the UK with promises of huge winnings arriving in the form of unsolicited e-mail or letters to UK residents.

Invariably the communication will purport to come from an overseas lottery and claim that the recipient has been allocated winning numbers.

The recipient will contact the organisers, whether directly via the telephone, by post or e-mail and will be invited to send money in to assist in the administration for the release of the winnings.

These winnings do not exist. This is merely a scam and attempt to elicit money from unsuspecting victims. As the winnings on offer are substantial, so too can be the advance fees required to release the funds.

The real cruel part of this scam is that suspects will build up a rapport with victims through telephone contact in order to continue the flow of money.

Who are the victims?

In the case of e-mail anyone can be a victim. These spam e-mails are mass-mailed and anyone can become a potential victim.

With letters the criminals can be a little more specific and in many cases the elderly are most at risk. Suspects pay good money for mailing lists and they do target those lists that deal with the elderly.

Hard copy letters complete with certificates of winnings will be sent to the unsuspecting victim. On the face of it these look genuine.

The victim may respond and after sending a fee to the fraudsters may have telephone contact. The fraudsters will gain the confidence of the victim, hence elderly pepole are most at risk.

Communications are often sent to drop or P.O. box addresses. These are then collected by couriers or third parties and sent on to the fraudsters, in most cases overseas.

Payments are made through cheques, credit / debit card transactions or through sending cash via money transfer services.

Cheques can be cleared through international clearing services and the money will go through a series of further transactions before finally arriving in the pockets of the fraudsters.

Who are behind these scams?

Invariably highly organised gangs based overseas are behind these frauds. It is widely acknowledged that there area large number of Canadian and Spanish syndicates involved, specifically targeting the USA and UK.

The authorities are taking the threat very seriously and have put major resources into tackling the problem. Criminal networks taken down in the past have uncovered huge lists of victims, showing how much they have paid, when they were last contacted and when they are due to be contacted again.

Case Scenario

An elderly couple in London, both in their nineties, went into their bank and wished to draw out in excess of £20,000. When asked why they told the bank they had won money in an overseas lottery and were paying some fees to release the money.

The bank advised them that this was a fraud and tried to deter them from drawing out the money. The couple demanded that unless the bank allowed them to draw the money, they would close their account and take their business elsewhere.

The bank contacted the fraud squad and a manager from the bank together with a detective from the fraud squad visited the couple to convince them that this was a scam.

The couple were adamant that their luck had changed and that this was a genuine lottery. Had they not eventually been deterred, the loss of their life savings would have been a severe blow.

What to do in the event of receiving an unsolicited communication

If you receive these communications do not answer it. You can report these communications to the Enquiries Unit at the Office of Fair Trading. Enforcement teams within the Office of Fair Trading work with the Canadian Authorities to collect evidence. The Canadian Authorities can use this evidence to prosecute the fraudsters.

Although the OFT cannot take up cases on behalf of individuals or give individual advice, anybody who has received a phone call and/or sent money to the Canadian lottery can report it to OFT and help put a stop to the scam.

The OFT can be contacted on: 08457 224499.

For further information on scams please see our Scams page.

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