Author: Stourpaine Parish Council

Urgent message from Dorset Police – Suspicious males

Dorset police have received reports from the Fifehead Neville area of North Dorset where four males in a blue car, possibly an old style Cavalier or Nova, with a partial registration number of E672***

These males were disturbed at a property which is set back from the main road by approximately 3/4 mile. They gave an excuse of looking for another address and were aggressive towards the home owner who discovered them.

They did manage to steal a STIHL petrol strimmer and blade before the home owner returned.

If anyone believes they may recognise this car, we would like any information passed to us on the Dorset Police 101 number quoting incident 02:312

We would also like to continue to remind all residents to remain alert and continue to report any suspicious behaviour.

Thankyou

Action Fraud – Bogus Bailiffs

Action Fraud has seen an increase in the number of small to medium sized businesses being contacted by fake bailiffs requesting payments for a phantom debt.

The scam involves the business being cold called from someone purporting they are bailiffs working on behalf of a court, attempting to recover funds for a non-existent debt. The caller will then request payment by means of bank transfer and if this is refused, will threaten to visit the premises to recover the debt that is owed.

A range of different businesses are being targeted; including Nurseries, Manufacturers, Hotels and Taxi Services.

Protect Yourself

  • Confirm what the debt is regarding; bailiffs are only used to recover certain debts such as council tax, child support and compensation orders. Bailiffs are not used to recover debts relating to private advertisement; these would be collected by debt collectors. Debt collectors do not have the same legal powers as bailiffs and will not have special court authorisation to act. For more details regarding this, please look at the Citizens Advice website.
  • Double check with the Court or originating company to confirm whether the suspects are legitimate; if you use a landline make sure you hear the dialling tone prior to dialling as the suspects could still be on the line.
  • Request details of the debt in writing to access its legitimacy.
  • Do not feel rushed or intimidated to make a decision based on a phone call.

If you, or anyone you know, have been affected by this fraud or any other scam, report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk

Published
Categorised as Crimewatch

National Rural Crime Network Survey 2015

·         Do you feel the police are visible enough?

·         What are your views on police response in your area?

·         Is crime under-reported?

·         How does crime and the fear of crime impact your community?

·         Are you concerned about threats to wildlife?

 

Help the National Rural Crime Network protect rural areas – give them your views on policing and crime. Act now to make your voice heard!
Click here to complete the survey.

 

In response to concerns from people living and working in rural areas, the National Rural Crime Network is launching the biggest ever survey of rural policing and crime.

In the face of shrinking budgets, it is important for the National Rural Crime Network to better understand your experiences of policing and crime in your area. Have you suffered financial loss, been concerned or worried about safety or feel the focus is generally on urban areas? You can complete this survey anonymously.

Start the survey

The aim is for the National Rural Crime Network to use the results of the survey to improve awareness of crime in rural areas and encourage crime prevention, inform government policy and help ensure funding is not disproportionately lost from rural areas. The results from the survey will inform the police and their partners in their work, helping to ensure the right services and resources are available to rural communities.

They can only do this with your help.

For the 10-15 minutes it will take, your response will make a difference to policing, crime and community safety in rural areas. I appreciate that you may not live in a rural area so apologies if you feel that this survey doesn’t apply to you – but you may still have views about rural crime if for instance you work in a rural area, have family and friends who live there etc. and we would like you to get the chance to have your say.

Act now to make your voice heard!

Start the survey

This message has been sent as the message type ‘Feedback / opinion requests‘. If you no longer wish to receive this type of message, please click the ‘Change settings‘ button/link at the bottom of this email.

Catherine Dunn
Campaigns, Events & Database Manager
Neighbourhood & Home Watch Network

Published
Categorised as Notice

Message from Dorset Police – Paypal/Investment Fraud

Fraudsters often target ‘goods for sale’ adverts on popular online auctions sites, so watch out whenever you’re selling anything online.

How does the fraudster operate?

The fraudster will contact the seller to say that they want to buy the advertised item.
The seller then receives what looks like a genuine PayPal email, to confirm that the money has been paid by the buyer into their account.

With confirmation of payment, the seller will then send the item to the buyer’s address. The seller will later find that the PayPal email is fake and that the money has not been paid. The seller ends up losing out twice as not only do they not have the money, but they no longer have the item to sell.

Protect yourself:

• Check your PayPal account to ensure that the money has been paid in and has cleared into your bank account before you send the item to the buyer.
• Do not be bullied or rushed into sending items before you know that the payment has cleared – a genuine purchaser will not mind waiting a day or two for you to send them their item.
• If you are selling a vehicle, think carefully when selling to overseas purchasers – especially if they tell you they will send an extra payment for shipping – check that the funds have cleared before arranging this.

People nationwide are receiving cold calls and are being persuaded to invest in ‘Fine Art’.

Concerns around this include:
• How the commodity is being offered, such as how the cold callers persuade victims to part with their money.
• Hidden costs charged to the victims to view the product, shipping costs or additional fees to store the item.

How to protect yourself:

  •  If the investment sounds too good to be true it probably is.
  •  Hang-up on investment cold calls. Legitimate companies will not ring-up and offer you an investment out of the blue.
  •  Do not give out personal financial information to cold callers
  • Check whether the art dealer is a member of a trade association, such as The Society of London Art Dealers (SLAD), The Association of Art and Antique Dealers (LAPADA), The British Art Dealers Association (BADA) or Confederation of International Dealers in Art Work (CINOA).
  •  Request copies of old receipts, invoices and question the history of the previous owner of the art investment, to check if the product is genuine before investing.
Published
Categorised as Crimewatch

A message from Dorset Police

We’re proud to announce that the Shaftesbury and Gillingham Home Watch association are now on line.

We’d like to ask anyone who has a home or business in these areas to get online and check them out. They are a great source of security information and practical advice for keeping yourself and your property secure.

www.sgwha.org.uk

Published
Categorised as Crimewatch