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Tenant Convicted over £40,000 Scam

In a landmark prosecution, a community homes tenant has been convicted for defrauding the council out of £40,000.

Adrian Pengilley, from Plymouth, originally applied to purchase his council home, under the right to buy scheme, but instead he illegally Sublette the property. He moved out of the property and rent it out, which is against the rules under the right to buy scheme. He had been a tenant of Plymouth Community Homes for 14 years and although the sale never went through, he could of benefitted just under £40,000 from the fraud.

Plymouth Community Homes said his actions led to … Read more

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HMRC puts an end to fraudsters spoof calling victims

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have put new defensive controls in place to put an end to fraudsters spoofing the tax authority’s most recognisable helpline numbers.

Fraudsters have increasingly mimicked legitimate HMRC helpline numbers (often beginning with 0300) to dupe taxpayers and steal money. Last year alone, HMRC received over 100,000 phone scam reports.

How the scam works

HMRC have long warned about fake tax related scam calls. Fraudsters posing as HMRC use many different tactics to extract money from victims. However, HMRC say that there has been a sharp rise in the amount of scam calls being made to … Read more

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Scam Victim Wants to Warn Others

Wendy Williams, was just one of over a thousand people targeted by the ‘Wolves of Wind Street’, a group of fraudsters who targeted elderly victims with a free boiler scam. Renewable Energy Centre Ltd, offered victims a free boiler under what they said was a government scheme, all people had to do was pay a one-off upfront fee of either £299 or £399.

The company managed to con 1,200 people into paying this fee, but only three households ever received their new boilers. The three elderly victims who did receive their new boiler, were actually unknowingly signed up for … Read more

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Virgin Media issues warning to customers over scam phone calls

An elderly man is warning people to be vigilant after he was targeted by scammers.

A man is warning customers to be vigilant after receiving numerous scam phone calls claiming to be from his telephone provider. John Brown, from Darlington, had been receiving missed calls and automated messages from ‘British Telecom’ stating his internet and broadband with Virgin Media would be cancelled.

The messages, which he received almost daily in the space of four weeks, told him he could remedy this by calling a certain number and pressing ‘one’ to speak to someone claiming to be tech support. Already suspicious, … Read more

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Businessman Jailed For Conning Footballer  

A businessman from Doncaster has been jailed for eight and a half years for conning footballer Gary Cahill.

The Sun reported that Chelsea and England star Cahill, was conned out of £1 million by Stewart Groves who had offered the defender his services, but instead deposited the cash into his own bank accounts.

Stewart Groves has been disqualified for ten years after misappropriating £800,000 of one of his clients investments. At a crown court hearing, Groves was found guilty of fraud by misrepresentation and sentenced to 8 and a half years. Earlier this year, Lincoln County Court issued Groves … Read more

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Toy boy Fraudster Tricked OAP into signing away her £320k will

A court has heard how 28-year-old Benjamin Field wrote messages from God on an Elderly woman’s mirror, to trick her into signing away her £320,000 will.

Benjamin Field is in court accused of attempted murder, alongside Martyn Smith. The two men are thought to have conspired to break their elderly victim’s mind and drive her to the grave. Benjamin Field was 57 years her junior, he sent her letters and poems during his year long seduction plan. He fooled her by saying he was in love and wanted to get married, eventually persuading her to leave her house to him … Read more

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Single missed call can install spyware on your phone

A vulnerability discovered in WhatsApp messaging service is being exploited to inject spyware onto Android and iOS phones simply by calling the number.

The spyware, developed by Israel’s secretive NSO group, can be installed without a trace and without the receiver answering the call, according to security researchers and confirmed by WhatsApp.

Once installed, the spyware can turn on a phone’s camera and mic, scan emails and messages, and collect the user’s location data. WhatsApp is urging its 1.5 billion global users to update the app immediately to close the security hole.

“WhatsApp encourages people to upgrade to the latest … Read more

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Holiday From Hell

A couple from the South West, say they are stuck in a village in Corfu, which resembles a war zone.

Mick Clarke and wife Jayney claim they are stuck in the village of Agios Gordios, Corfu, which they’ve said has no water, is strewn with rubbish and is making them ill. Mick is a former soldier and says the resort reminds him of his time serving in war-torn Bosnia. And Jayney has a rare blood disorder she calls a “ticking timebomb.”

“This holiday was supposed to help end a really bad time in our lives. I was really ill last … Read more

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Rogue Traders Sentenced

Scammers stole thousands from vulnerable people.

Two men who scammed more than £35,000 from a vulnerable elderly man have been sentenced. The two men first approached their elderly victim at his home in September 2017. They claimed that, while working on his neighbours property, they noticed a leak in his gutter, which they could repair for £5.

Sensing the man was vulnerable, they went on to tell him a series of lies, claiming he could be sued by his neighbour if he did not allow them to urgently repair his roof. The man agreed to have this work carried … Read more

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Scammer Steals $10,000 From Grandfather

A grandfather from Australia has been scammed out of $10,000 by a sophisticated fraudster who knew all of his personal details.

The 77 year old retired grandfather, from Australia, was called on his landline by scammers claiming to be from his broadband provider. They told him he was due a payment of $300 in compensation for his service not working properly. The caller then proceeded to pass his call onto a female agent who claimed to work for the network and would process his $300 payment.

The scammer knew all of his personal details and was able to access his … Read more

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