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A mother and daughter have shared their experiences of falling victim to ticket scammers in the hope that others think twice before buying tickets from unauthorised platforms. 

Sophie, 17, and Juliette, 49, gave their story as part of a new awareness campaign launched with Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) that urges people to avoid fraud by taking more care when buying tickets for live events. Fraudsters will pose as a website or agent for a music concert or festival, a sporting contest, or a live comedian or performer, meaning victims will purchase tickets that either don’t arrive or … Read more

Former customer services officer fined after unlawfully accessing personal data.

A former customer services officer for Stockport Homes Limited has been found guilty at Stockport Magistrates court and ordered to pay a £300 fine, for unlawfully accessing personal data.

The court heard how Wendy Masterson spent time looking at anti-social behaviour cases without a legitimate reason to do so. In fact, she accessed Stockport Homes Limited case management system a total of 67 times between January and December 2017 when she was not authorised to do so. Her actions only came to light after concerns raised about her performance at … Read more

The Better Business Bureau is warning residents of Missouri to be careful when looking to exit their timeshare contracts.

Desperate timeshare owners, looking to get out of their lengthy expensive contracts are falling victim to rogue timeshare exit companies, throughout Missouri the Better Business Bureau is claiming.

One family who discovered this for themselves, took their story to a local news channel to warn others facing the same problem. Thirty years ago, a local family and their three children purchased a timeshare in Sedona. The fees started off just $38 a year but eventually increased to a whopping $3,700 annually.… Read more

Action Fraud have issued a warning for people to lookout for Phishing messages on National Fish and Chip Day.

Between April 2018 and March 2019, Action Fraud received over a quarter of a million reports of Phishing. Over two thirds of these reports were about emails claiming to be from a well-known brand. There were almost 70,000 that related to phishing phone calls, otherwise known as vishing, and close to 18,000 relating to phishing text messages, known as smishing.

Commander Karen Baxter, National Police Coordinator for Economic Crime at the City of London Police, said:“Phishing messages are … Read more

Action Fraud is warning people to be careful when booking their pilgrimages.

Action Fraud, the reporting service, is warning anyone looking to book an upcoming pilgrimage to the Middle East, to exercise extreme caution as fraudsters are specifically targeting Hajj trips.

Up to 25,000 British Muslims will be booking trips to Mecca over the coming months to perform Hajj in the autumn.

The total reported loss to victims was £185,967 betw,,een July and December 2018. The public are urged to check that their travel company is a member of a recognised association such as ABTA

Last year, in the period … Read more

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

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

Phone and Broadband firms will be forced to tell customers if they could be on cheaper deals under new Ofcom rules.

Under new rules set out by Ofcom, Broadband, TV, mobile and home phone companies will be required to tell customers when their contract is coming to an end and show them the best deals available to them.

Ofcom says that more than 20 million people have been stuck with subscriptions beyond their lock-in, without realising. They also want companies to remind customers that they can change their package.

Ofcom first announced its plan to help secure end of … Read more

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

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