Below is useful information on just a few of the more prevalent crimes :

New telephone number for contacting the Police for reporting crimes and suspicious incidents.

08453 302010

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Have a look at the Crime Stats :

Staffordshire Police Crime Statistics

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Latest Trading Standards Warning Notices for June 2006 :-

Voiceover Credit Card Scams

Doorstep Crime.

Clothing Collection Company.

Staffordshire Police Notice of the latest MAIL SCAM

If you receive a card through your door from a company call PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) saying that they have a parcel awaiting delivery instructions and can you contact them on 0906 6611911 DO NOT call the number as this is a mail scam originating from Belize.  If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £15 for the phone call.

If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact :

Royal Mail Fraud on 02072396655

or ICSTIS at <<http://www.icstis.org.uk>>

or your local Trading Standards Office.

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The latest E-MAIL SCAM

There are a lot of E-mails going round at the moment, which look as if they have come from your bank. The E-mail will even contain the Bank Logo. The wording of the E-mails vary, but it will ask you to click onto the link which will be part of the E-mail and update your information.
Part of the E-mails usually has a sentence which is designed to make you think that if you don't  follow their instructions you will not be able to access your funds.

Your Bank would not send such an E-mail.

The E-mails are a scam to try and get you to divulge your personal information.

DO NOT be tempted to carry out the instructions, as although the E-mail looks like it's from your Bank, it is in fact from criminals.

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You may be aware of recent publicity regarding fraud, including ‘skimming’ cards at ATM’s (cashpoint machines), and fraudulent use of credit card details when the card has not been stolen. THE NUMBER OF SUCH INCIDENTS IN LICHFIELD FAR OUTNUMBERS BURGLARIES. Offenders usually target ATM’s at supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations, rather than at banks themselves. This usually involves fitting a device and micro camera to the machine, to record the card details and pin number. The offenders often wait nearby, perhaps in a vehicle; in a recent incident in Shenstone, a device fell off as a customer was using it, who was then pushed to the ground by the offenders as they recovered it. If you notice anything unusual or suspicious, don’t use the machine, walk away and contact the police. Always cover your hand when entering your pin number in shops or at machines. Always shred any documents, till receipts etc that have your details on. Finally, if you receive a telephone call supposedly from your bank or credit card company, suggesting an attempt has been made to fraudulently use your card and asking for your details or pin number to ‘verify’, do NOT give this, put the phone down, and contact your bank and the police.

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Staffordshire Police Notice of the latest CREDIT CARD SCAM

This information is worth reading for the benefit of you, your family, friends, relatives.

The person calling you by phone sounds very genuine, knowledgeable, professional etc, and engages you in a professional conversation similar to the following example which is taken from a real situation. "This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at (VISA/MasterCard/other Financial Institution). My Badge number is (gives a number). Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify this". "This would be on your VISA card that was issued by (name of financial institution). Did you purchase (Item of property or service) for (price) from (name of company/store/business web site etc.) based in (name of any town or city)?" When you say "No" the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from £150 to £249, just under the £250 purchase pattern that most cards use as a limit where verification is required. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct? You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraud Investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 0800 number listed on the back of your card and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this control number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?" Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says, "I need to verify you are in possession of your card". He'll ask you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers". There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security Numbers that verify you are in possession of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say "No". The caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back; if you do have any problems", and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. What to do What the offender(s) want is the 3-digit number which should not be given. It may be better to obtain the name/phone number of the offender then make an independent check for yourself. Do make a security call to your own financial institution for verification of this enquiry. In this instance the injured party had occasion to return the call to his bank which highlighted this scam and was told that in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of £249.99 was made on his card. Financial Institutions are receiving several similar reports of this type of crime every day. Real VISA/MASTERCARD/Financial Institutions do not ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card!

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Bogus Callers / Distraction Burglars :
This is the name given to the type of burglars who pass themselves off as workmen, usually from the Water Board, Gas Board, Builders, Gardeners, etc. They will have a very plausible reason for you letting them in your house, (e.g. to check for dirt in the water)

Not all distraction burglars are dressed up as workmen. There have been reports of children asking if they can get their ball from your back garden, or some other reason for entering your home or garden. If you don't know the children, DO NOT LET THEM IN and make sure that the door is locked before you leave them on the door step to go and look for their ball, etc.

Who are the most vulnerable ?  
Any one on there own, as these burglars usually work in groups of 2 or more so if you let them in your house you are not able to keep an eye on them all and one or more or them will be looking to steal, while one of them keeps you occupied.

What can I do to stop them ?

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Door to Door Traders (Doorstep Workmen) :
These are the workmen who knock on your door and offer to tarmac your drive , repair your roof, cut down you trees, gardening, etc.
They will usually offer to do the work at a very cheap price. DO NOT DEAL WITH DOOR TO DOOR TRADERS, as most of the time you will not be happy with their work, that is if they do any work. Quite often they will ask for cash up front, then vanish never to be seen again.

If you need work done use reputable traders with known addresses.

Ask friends and family to recommend someone.

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Telephone Scams :
Following are just a few of the telephone scams that are about :

You have won a prize : 
You receive a card or letter informing you that you have "won" a prize and  you just have to ring a number to claim it, or sometimes just pressing a single key will transfer the call to premium rate number.
The premium rate number, can cost in the order of £20 per minute and after you have been on the phone for several minutes they will inform you that you have won a pen, they will then tell you that the prize will be sent when they receive your payment of £3.50 to cover the administration and postage. There is often a minimum time period set so once the premium rate call starts it will go on for say 5 minutes, even if you hang up straight away. If you listen to the whole call you could be in for a £350 telephone bill.

Canadian Lottery
A telephone call tells you have won a large prize, but in order to
claim you have to send money to cover 'taxes' etc. Needless to say this is
a scam, but unfortunately people have responded, sending thousands of
pounds. The callers always sound VERY plausible. As with all such cases,
residents should NEVER respond to any calls such as these

Person in Distress :  
Someone knocks on your door and tells you that their car has broken down and asks if they can use your phone to ring a friend. You agree and they spend 3 or 4 minutes on the phone pretending to tell someone the tale and giving directions, then they thank you and leave.
When you get your telephone bill you find an item for £200 and find that the number they called was a £50 per minute premium rate number.

Bogus Telephone Engineers :  
Your phone rings and the person on the other end claims to be a telephone engineer.
They ask you to press a few buttons (e.g. 9   0   #) as they need to check the line.
If you do this it may open your telephone line for the caller to make calls at your cost.

Fax for a List of Bargain Holidays :  
You read in a newspaper or on teletex, that is you ring a number they will fax you a list of all the bargain holidays. It probably informs you that the call will cost you 50p a minute, which doesn't seem too bad, but after the fax machine has been churning holiday information out for an hour you realise that it's an expensive way of obtaining holiday information.

Information Gathering :  
Your phone rings and the person on the other end tries to make an appointment to talk to you about double glazing, security alarms, etc. They may well be a genuine sales person, but on the other hand they may be just gathering information on when you will be out, so that they can enter your property to help them selves.
Always be very careful what you say to strangers.

Surveys :  
Your phone rings and the person on the other end says that they are carrying out market research, would you be kind enough to answer a few questions, for which you may be offered a free prize draw (or some other incentive) Beware - the information you provide is often sold on to numerous companies and you may well be plagued with numerous mail shots, E-mails and telephone calls.

Free Holiday :  
Your phone rings and the person on the other end says that you have won a free holiday in some exotic location. All you have to do to claim it is to go to a 2 hour presentation.
This is of course Time Share.  They will tell you that you will get the holiday even if you don't buy a time share.  This is more that likely true, but it's only after the presentation and the high pressure sales pitch that they tell you that to get the free holiday you have to be prepared to travel at 8 hours notice, or some other equally outrageous stipulation.

Free Prize :  
Your phone rings and the person on the other end says that you will be given the choice of a camera, video television, computer, etc. as long as you go to a 2 hour presentation on the advantages of joining a Holiday Club. They will tell you that you will get the prize even if you don't join the Holiday Club. This is more that likely true, but it's only after the presentation and the high pressure sales pitch that you find out that the item offered you has a very low specification and you need to pay as much as the items worth to cover the administration and delivery costs.

Invest in Wine :  
Your phone rings and the person on the other end try's to get you to buy a case of "Fine Wine" at £30 plus per bottle. They may tell you that it's a better investment than buying stocks and shares. They may tell you that it could double in value in as little as 3 years, etc. etc. Then because it's fine wine it needs to be kept in controlled conditions in order to maintain its value so, then you will probably be offered a contract for them to keep the wine in their warehouse at £xx per year.
Well the wine they offer you may well do what they say, but from articles I have read it's highly unlikely. If you buy stocks and shares you take the risk that the value of your purchase may go down, but stocks and shares can be freely traded through thousands of authorised traders and if you want to sell you will be offered the value that the share is listed at, which can be seen on the internet, Financial Times, etc.
If you buy wine, how do you sell it  ???????????????????????????

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The above are just a handful of ways that the criminally inclined and opportunists have devised to try and part you from your money and belongings. If you are reading this and aren't in an active Neighbourhood Watch scheme, then please read on, then join up as a Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator and help the fight against crime.

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   There may well be some very honestly run Holiday Clubs, Fine Wine Sellers,  Faxed Holiday Operators,
Time Share Companies, Door to Door Traders, etc. but there are lots of not so honest ones, so be warned.