There are two main types of scams:
- A mass marketing scam is a misleading or deceptive business practice where the person is ‘cold-called’ (unsolicited or uninvited contact) by letter, email, phone or advertisement and false promises are made to obtain money.
- A doorstep scam is where victims are cold-called at their homes and persuaded to part with money.
It’s easier to spot a scam if you know what to look for. Be careful if:
- an opportunity comes out of the blue or from someone you don’t know
- something sounds out of the ordinary – such as winning the lottery, or being invited to invest in an ‘amazing’ scheme which must be kept secret
- you are asked to pay for something in advance – especially by bank transfer
- you are asked for personal information – such as bank details, computer passwords or PIN numbers
- you are pressured into buying something or making a decision quickly – a trustworthy company will be happy to wait
- you are asked to phone an expensive number – these usually start with 070, 084, 087, 090, 091 or 098
Friends Against Scams is a National Trading Standards (NTS) Scams Team initiative, which aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering communities to “Take a Stand Against Scams”.
Friends Against Scams has been created to tackle the lack of scams awareness by providing information about scams and those who fall victim to them. This information enables communities and organisations to understand scams, talk about scams and cascade messages throughout communities about scams prevention and protection.
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Against Scams Partnership (CAPASP) is a
partnership of organisations committed to taking a stand against scams and aims to
make Cambridgeshire and Peterborough a scam-free county.