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Neighbourhood
Watch Jan - March 2004
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MOBILE POLICE STATION'S NEIGHBOURHOOD
WATCH NEWSLETTER Rural
Police Unit
BeatMobile Visits The next visits of the Beatmobile to
Theydon Bois are on TELEPHONE SCAMS The often-promised but rarely seen threat of mobile spam seems to finally have found its niche with the advent of the 'missed call' scam. The missed call scam, or "missed call marketing" as it's sometimes called, uses phone owners' curiosity to milk them for a few quid. The companies operating the scam send out a spam text to phones that appears to the user as a missed call. If you're the curious sort, you might well ring back to find out who wanted to talk to you. Instead of a mate trying to arrange what time to meet at the pub, you'll find yourself on the wrong end of a premium rate number costing £1.50 a minute, promising you've won a prize. No prize will ever turn up - but a hefty mobile phone bill will. Regulator ICSTIS (the Independent Committee for the Supervision of
Telephone Information Services) has found two companies practicing the
scheme, in breach of regulations - and the law - and shut them down.
While there are two fewer scammers out there, a new temptation could
well lure more out of the woodwork. With ICSTIS currently considering
the introduction of higher priced premium rate lines, costing between
£2.50 and £5 a minute, the spammers aren't likely to turn
down the chance of making a fast buck. CREDIT CARD FRAUD
TIE ME KANGEROO DOWN SPORT The Epping and Ongar week now has a Police Community Support Officer on board and it is his job to wander the beat whilst I am in the village. His name is Allan Perrett and he spent five years in the Australian Police Force. If you see him about just ask him where his kangaroo is parked!!
CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111
MOBILE POLICE STATION'S NEIGHBOURHOOD
WATCH NEWSLETTER Rural
Police Unit
BeatMobile Visits The next visits of the Beatmobile to
Theydon Bois are on EUROS AND PASSPORTS I did mention this last year but following various arrests and publicity in National Newspapers it's not a bad idea to go over it again. This problem relates to your holiday currency because so many of you are now saving your unused Euros for the next trip. Whether you are returning from either just a day trip to France or from your annual holiday you are not cashing them back into Sterling. To make the problem even worse - some of you will keep up to £200-300's worth of Euros just laying about in the house. I can hear many of you saying, "Hadn't thought of that!!" You are one step behind the burglar. He has!! If you insist on keeping large amounts of cash at home then please take measures to keep it safe. To make matters even worse, you are keeping this currency with your Passports and they alone are worth a lot of money. The newspaper report carried an article that related to recent arrests and the discovery of a forgery factory. This factory dealt with stolen Credit Cards and Passports that they pass on to people who are willing to pay thousands of pounds for their new identities. This factory alone was worth millions of pounds so guess how many thefts or burglaries occurred to earn that sort of money? An extra bonus to the burglar is that if he makes an easy entrance to your property you will not even know a burglary has occurred until you search for your lost items. To add to the above problem we have once again had a problem with Bin - Dipping so PLEASE remember that all your letters with important information on must be shredded. It is really worth the effort. Your details and any stolen items, Driving Licence etc are worth money so protect them. Whilst on the subject of holidays and repeating information - those
of you that use out of office assistants on e-mails at work - reconsider
- last year a male who worked at a large company obtained all these
little messages, he then obtained all the home addresses of the owners
of these messages and then had his friends break into their homes.
CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 MOBILE POLICE STATION'S NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH NEWSLETTER WARNING Judging by the number of telephone calls I get from you many of you still receive telephone calls from companies who try and book appointments with you for various reasons. One person recently had a call from a company who wished to book an appointment to inspect his electrical fuse box etc. We do contact a lot of these companies, including this one, to check them out and advise them but of course what they do is not strictly illegal. This company book appointments with the customer, they offer a password system that protects vulnerable households and all their representatives carried colour ID. A lot of these companies are genuine and because so many of you still wish to buy goods from the doorstep they still employ people to use this system. If you must use this system then please make sure you book a timed appointment with them. Then, make sure you have a friend or relative with you because it is so much easier to discuss it with someone you know. No appointment, do not answer the door. WAXING Can I also just remind parents that the Motorised Scooters known as Go-peds, which are still seen on our footpaths and roads, are illegal. In fact, they never will be legal. If your child has one then you, as a parent, could well end up in court having penalty points being placed on your driving licence. You could also end up in civil court paying damages for any accident or incident involving that machine. If you know someone locally who uses these machines, tell them or ask them to have a chat with me, before it is too late.
I have had many of you calling regarding telephone scams. The most popular one at the moment involves a recorded message on your landline stating that you had won either a large cash prize or a holiday in Greece, Spain, Tenerife, etc. You have to push to '0' to proceed. It is of course your choice whether you wish to proceed or not but unless you have 'Loads of Money' to waste, I would not bother. It is like a few of the 0800 free phone numbers. The initial telephone call is free but then they re-connect you onto a business line and that is not free. You need to ask when you phone whether you will be charge if the call continues. BIG CAT SIGHTINGS NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH GROUPS MESSAGE IN THE BOTTLE SCHEME So, the Message in the Bottle is a scheme that is used
throughout Essex and is recognized by all the emergency services. The
bottle is in fact plastic; it has numerous green cross stickers that
are placed inside the front door, on your fridge door and around the
plastic bottle. The bottle is placed inside the fridge. All details
are placed inside the bottle for our use. Age also has little to do
with this; I know a twenty year old who suffered from Asthma who collapsed
at home. These bottles are free and can be obtained from the Mobile
Police Station. Well worth the effort!! CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 MOBILE POLICE STATION'S NEIGHBOURHOOD
WATCH NEWSLETTER CREDIT CARDS
Recently there have again been numerous attempts to obtain Credit Card Pin Numbers. Please DO NOT PART WITH THEM - EVER. Nobody has a right to your number, not even the police - not even your bank. Owners of MasterCard have had calls from a gent claiming to be from their Security and Fraud Department. He supports this claim with a badge number and a telephone number. He will try and talk you round to giving out your numbers. DON'T There are numbers on the back of the card as well - do not give those numbers out either - ever. They can be found on the small strip - they are important so do not give them out. If any company requires that information tell them to write to you. If they request your address then ignore it because they should have it already - after all - they are your bank!! I have told you before - and I know I sound like a scratched record that keeps repeating itself but - a female working in a shop lost her purse - she reported it to the police - within two hours the police called back - "We have two prisoners and your purse along with your cards" - she is over the moon!! - the police continue - "Problem is that they have used the cards and although we have tried to speak to your bank they will not help without your pin number" - She gives it out - her account is emptied - it is not the police of course but the people who stole her cards in the first place. I must also warn you again about Bin Dipping. This is the practice where people hunt through your dustbin contents for your information. Any bits of paper with your data on is useful in some way to them. This is sold on to organize groups of villains. You must take care with your rubbish. You may have read recently where one family lost £16,000 by this method. There have also been a few thefts from postboxes. You should keep records of all important data sent by post just in case. Many of you keep diaries now listing unusual phone calls or callers. Do not be afraid to ask searching questions - Trust No One!! THE GARDEN FIGHTS BACK JUNK WILDLIFE ISSUES There is also information on the Conservation of Bats available on 020 7627 2629. There have been a number of prosecutions and police action surrounding Bat Crime. You can always contact Pc Robin Hance, who is the Essex Police Wildlife Officer, or myself. STOLEN VEHICLES Vehicle alarm systems are fairly good these days and villains need to get them shut off before stealing them. Ungaraged vehicles parked overnight are easy targets. The thief will knock the vehicle until alarm sounds. The owner on hearing this will switch it off and then reset it. Five minutes later the thief will then set the alarm off again. The owner will then leave the alarm off thinking it is faulty. Vehicle is then stolen. If you have a garage use it. Don't forget that 40% of stolen vehicles are never returned and 30% of all theft from motor vehicles occurs in car parks. MOBILE PHONES CLASSIC MUSIC MOBILE POLICE STATION'S NEIGHBOURHOOD
WATCH NEWSLETTER Rural
Police Unit
BeatMobile Visits The next visits of the Beatmobile to
Theydon Bois are on DRUGS Grandparents are my favourite type of person. Being one myself does make me slightly biased I suppose but I do find that because they do not see their grandchildren every day they pick up on change of moods quicker than parents would. This is not meant to be disrespectful to parents but living with teenagers is stressful at times and mood changes difficult for a parent to detect and to put a finger of the cause. Grandparents will notice a sudden growth and so on. One reason - and thankfully - a rare reason for a change of mood is the taking of drugs. Not many parents, and even less grandparents, have seen drugs and therefore have little knowledge of what they look like. I have on board a kit with these drugs displayed. If you are interested then please come and ask to see them. CARJACKING You should also use your internal locking system. Directly you enter your vehicle lock the doors. This will also save guard you when you are stationary at traffic lights etc. Yes, I know we shouldn't have to and I accept it is difficult but you have to consider your safety and even the welfare of a child who might be left asleep in the car. Try and get into the habit of looking around you. The other point is that when you fill up with petrol at a petrol station - lock your vehicle before paying. You would be surprised at the number of thefts from vehicles left unlocked. SECURITY CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111
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Last Up Dated: 15th March 2004