Author: Stourpaine Parish Council

Positive Warrant – Blandford

On Wednesday 25th February, a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant was conducted in Blandford. Subsequently, 5 persons were arrested on suspicious of Money Laundering.

This is once again a fantastic result for our continued efforts in detecting and disrupting the movement and supply of controlled substances, within our town and surrounding villages.

Kind Regards
Blandford SNT

Action Fraud, together with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and the City of London Police, are working in partnership with Rugby World Cup 2015 organisers to disrupt those entities seeking to sell Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets without permission from the official provider.

We would like rugby fans and the general public to be aware that they should only purchase tickets from official sources and avoid being scammed.

Purchase tickets from an official source and avoid losing your money.

• England Rugby 2015 Limited (“ER2015”) is the organising committee of Rugby World Cup 2015, due to take place in England and Cardiff from 18 September 2015 until 31 October 2015. Rugby World Cup Limited (“RWCL”) is the Tournament owner of Rugby World Cup 2015.
• RWCL/ER2015 wants to ensure that the public is not misled, by unauthorised ticket sellers, into believing they have purchased genuine Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets.

Where can you buy official match tickets? 

• Tickets for the general public may only be purchased from ER2015 via official website at: https://tickets.rugbyworldcup.com

Where can you buy Official ticket-inclusive hospitality packages?

• These can only be purchased through the official hospitality programme, operated by Rugby Travel & Hospitality Ltd (“RTH”) at www.rugbyworldcup.com/hospitality.

Where can you buy Official ticket-inclusive Supporter Tours (i.e. travel packages)?

• RTH has appointed a number of Official Travel Agents (“OTAs”) from across the globe to provide official Rugby World Cup ticket-inclusive supporter tours and a list of such OTAs is available at: http://supportertours.rugbyworldcup.com/travel_agents_list.aspx). 

How do you ensure that you are buying Rugby World Cup 2015 match tickets, supporter tours or hospitality packages from an official channel? 

• To check whether a company or a certain website is an official Rugby World Cup 2015 channel, use the ‘Official Checker’ tool which is located at www.rugbyworldcup/buyofficial.

Can you buy official Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets, supporter tours or hospitality packages elsewhere, other than as outlined above? 

• There is no guarantee that Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets (and/or ticket inclusive packages) purchased from any source other than RWCL, ER2015, RTH  (or those listed above) are genuine tickets (and/or ticket-inclusive packages).
• Fans who purchase tickets and/or ticket-inclusive packages from unauthorised sellers run the risk of paying over the odds for a non-existent ticket, ending up disappointed by not getting to see the match they paid to see, and risk having their personal and credit card details stolen for use in other crimes.

Points to note about unauthorised activity:

• It has been shown from the 2012 Olympics and other major events in the UK that ticket touts are often linked with other forms of criminality.
• The unauthorised sale, or offer for sale, of Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets (and/or ticket-inclusive packages) may constitute an infringement of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 or Fraud.
• All official Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets are subject to ER2015’s ticket terms and conditions, located at: http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/ticketing/t-c
• Tickets are STRICTLY NON-TRANSFERABLE and MUST NOT BE SOLD OR OFFERED, EXPOSED OR MADE AVAILABLE FOR SALE, OR TRANSFERRED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED. ER2015 reserves the right to cancel without refund any tickets which ER2015 reasonably believes have been or are intended to be resold, offered, exposed or made available for sale, or transferred or otherwise disposed in breach of the ticketing terms and conditions.
• Any person attempting to use Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets which have been resold in breach of the ticket terms and conditions risks being refused entry to or ejected from the relevant match venue.

How do I report unauthorised use of Rugby World Cup assets?

• To report the sale of unauthorised general public tickets, please contact ER2015 at legal@england2015.com.
• To report the sale of counterfeit Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets or the unauthorised sale of ticket-inclusive supporter tour/hospitality packages, please contact rwcrightsprotection@img.com

TICKETS PURCHASED OR OBTAINED FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE SHALL BE VOID AND MAY BE SEIZED OR CANCELLED WITHOUT REFUND OR COMPENSATION.

Action Fraud will be replicating this alert on a regular basis, leading up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup to prevent members of the community being affected by this type/similar fraud. Please bear with us until September 2015.

Over the past 2 days, two potentially serious accidents have been caused by bricks/rocks being thrown from the Yellow Bridge over the A350. Blandford SNT wish to make residents aware of the potential for serious injury or damage by persons throwing items from the Yellow bridge which crosses the A350 at the north end of town. Police are appealing for any witnesses or persons with information to come forward.You can contact Dorset Police by calling 101.

Fraudsters are targeting people by “cold calling” them on the telephone.

The scam starts with the following simple activity:

1. They will state that they are from the Bank Fraud department, the Police or other Law Enforcement.

2. They will tell the victim that fraud is being carried out on the victim’s bank account and that to prevent it they need to carry out any of the below activities:-

• Need to access your bank accounts online.
• Need to hand over your pin numbers and bank cards to a courier/official sent to collect them.
• Need to hand over money to A courier/ official sent to collect them.
• Need to transfer your money to another “safe” bank account(s) which they provide details of.

3. In order to prove their own credentials they will often ask you to telephone the “fraud” number you may have on the back of your bank card, or they may even ask you to telephone the Police to check that there is an official investigation, or telephone your own bank once the phone call to them is terminated.

   Do not be fooled!

   Do not telephone anyone at that stage as the phone line remains open and you are simply telephoning them back without realising. They will then continue with your assistance in stealing your money by any of the above methods.

   PROTECT YOURSELF

• The bank or the police will never telephone you “out of the blue” to ask you to transfer money into another account or hand over any of your money or bank cards. It is your money!!
• The bank or the police will never ask for your personal bank account details, or pin numbers over the phone.
• If you really want to check the credentials of a caller then go into your bank and ask to speak to the bank manager or use another phone to call the bank or police.
• If you are still unsure then attend a police station.
• Never discuss your banking details with strangers who call you!

Farm Thefts

Overnight Friday 6th February – Saturday 7th February  a farmyard at Hargrove, Shaftesbury has been entered. A wheeled pressure washer has been stolen.

Tarrant Valley – Burglaries

Dorset Police have had 2 daytime burglaries reported in the last 2 days in the Tarrant Valley.

On Thursday 5th February, a property was broken into in Tarrant Hinton. The offender(s) gained entry by smashing a rear window and an untidy search of the property was made and items taken.

On Friday 6th February, in the morning, a property was broken into in Tarrant Gunville. Offender(s) gained entry by forcing open a ground floor window and once inside, an untidy search of the property has been made and items taken.

If anyone saw or heard anyone/thing suspicious in the vacinity of these villages, on these days, please call Dorset Police on 101, quoting crime number 5201 for the Tarrant Hinton burglary and 5323 for the Tarrant Gunville burglary.

Blandford Rural SNT would like to take this opportunity to remind all residents to be vigilant and keep their properties secure.  There is no such thing as ‘I’m only popping out, it will be ok if I leave the back door unlocked’. Keep yourself and your property safe and secure.  If anyone would like to have a free Crime Prevention Survey of their property, completed by their local SNT, please call 101 and ask to speak to a member of the team.

Please see below messages received from Action Fraud –

Pension Changes 2015

HMRC have advised that from April 2015, people over the age of 55 will be given the flexibility of taking a number of smaller lump sum pension pots. 25% of the sum will be tax-free, with the remaining pension fund charged at marginal rate of income tax.

If you take out money from your pension fund before the age of 55, the normal tax rules apply.  We are concerned that fraudsters will take advantage of these rule changes by offering to invest pensions on the victim’s behalf.  Be very wary of such offers.

Avoid losing your hard-earned cash:

• Do not invest with companies which cold call you, offering extremely high returns. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Seek financial advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau, who work alongside the Treasury delivering the ‘Pension Wise’ service.
• If you wish to invest your savings in a company, please ensure you seek advice from an FCA registered and authorised advisor
• Be aware of callers offering a free pension review service by phone call, email and text message and do not invest in unregulated markets such as overseas property developments, storage units or forestry

We are holding a parcel in your name” – scam postcards delivered to resident’s homes

Scam postcards are being delivered to UK residents’ homes claiming that a parcel containing “jewellery” is waiting for the homeowner.

Find out how to avoid becoming a victim of this type of fraud by visiting the website below-

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/alert-we-are-holding-a-parcel-in-your-name-scam-postcards-delivered-to-residents-homes-feb15