Council runs Scamnesty Drive to Uncover Scams

2 February 2010

The City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with the Office of Fair Trading, is running a month-long 'Scamnesty' as part of an ongoing drive to combat scams.

For a month from this week residents in Edinburgh are being urged to bring any scam letters or emails they receive to one of a variety of locations where wheelie bins will be used to collect the mail.

Community Safety officers will then collate all the mail deposited in the bins during the 'Scamnesty' month and compile a report for the Office of Fair Trading on the kind of scams being perpetrated in Edinburgh. All mail handed in will then be recycled.

Working with other agencies, the aim of Scamnesty is to highlight the most prolific scams, and those specifically targeting the elderly and young people. The focus will be on notable, high turnover, mass marketed scams including bogus lotteries, deceptive prize draws/sweepstakes and miracle health cures.

Examples of scams which have prompted complaints to the Council's Community Safety team recently include companies purporting to be other well known firms and selling fake insurance, and a company selling teeth whitening products charging and using an unauthorised direct debit of over £100 for a so-called free trial.

Local Councillor and Environment Leader Robert Aldridge, said: "The 'Scamnesty' is a fantastic idea and one which will greatly assist our Community Safety officers in gauging the level and nature of mail scams being perpetrated in Edinburgh. The people who are behind these scams have no regard for the distress they may cause, particularly to older and more vulnerable members of the community so any steps that can be taken to root out such scams are really worthwhile."

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. The City of Edinburgh Council Services for Communities department focuses on delivering better services to communities across the city, thereby improving everyone's quality of life.

2. As part of Scams Awareness Month, the Office of Fair Trading is calling for a nationwide Scamnesty by asking consumers to drop in the mailings, which will be collected to provide intelligence, inform future investigations, and prevent others being scammed. Every year three million UK consumers fall victim to mail, email, text and internet scams which costs the UK £3.5billion a year.

3. Edinburgh Council’s Neighbourhood Offices and libraries were identified as the most suitable venues to position the Scam Mail Collection Bins. Each bin will be marked up with signage identifying it as a Scamnesty Collection Point.
Location of bins:
• North Neighbourhood Office, 8 West Pilton Gardens, Edinburgh, EH4 4DP
• South Neighbourhood Office, 40 Captain's Road, Edinburgh, EH17 8QF
• South West Neighbourhood Office, 10 Westside Plaza, Edinburgh, EH14 2ET
• East Neighbourhood Office, 86 Niddrie Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH16 4DT
• City Centre Neighbourhood Office, 1 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1BJ
• West Neighbourhood Office, Chesser House, 500 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh, EH11 3YJ
• South Queensferry Local Office53 High Street, South Queensferry, EH30 9HP
• Rannoch Community Education Centre, 6 Rannoch Terrace, Edinburgh, EH4 7ES
• Corstorphine Library, 12 Kirk Loan, Edinburgh EH12 7HD
• Advice Shop, 85 - 87 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1HN
• Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8BG