21 responses to “SCAM: National Crime Prevention Booklet”

1. 

   john March 9th, 2010 at 14:41

   Yap I got exactly the same call from Essex area. The lady was extremely rude and claimed from the Police. She rang me twice in 6 months time – she hung up on me as I started to ask her questions.

   Now I am waiting for her 3rd call

2. 

   MattyC March 10th, 2010 at 13:07

   Yep – has just happened to me. The call caught me somewhat unaware and they now have my name but thankfully no money.

   I have to hand it to them as it is easy to just agree with them and assume they have their records wrong if caught off guard as they are the police, or so I thought.

   I said call back in a couple of weeks; I’m on my guard now so thank you adscams(!)

3. 

   Amanda Maley March 16th, 2010 at 12:05

   It’s just happened to me as well. Cheek..What they didn’t realise is this golf club is right next to the Scottish Police College who we happened to be on very very good terms with and they had warned me about these calls so I knew whenever she started to speak it was a load old tosh….having a budget to follow I know exactly what I spent and where when it comes to advertising. Just put the phone down on these con artists

4. 

   rita mitchell April 5th, 2010 at 12:14

   I had a similar call this morning, obviously working through either a phone book or similar info in the public domain because he knew my name. He said he was from National Crime Prevention and wanted me to answer three questions. Advised him that if he was from crime prevention he should realise that I should not answer questions posed by an unknown caller, surely this a contradiction to the purpose of this organisation… he promptly hung up. The telephone number had been withheld..there’s a surprise!

5. 

   Christina McDonald April 19th, 2010 at 18:51

   The same thing happened to me today. Got a call from a guy who said he was from the London crime prevention unit asking if I want to be included in a National Crime Prevention booklet. After I hung up, I recieved 4 missed calls from an unknown number. The caller ID was withheld – what a shock. I reported him and the number he told me to contact him with initially to trading standards. The scary thing was that he sounded so convincing until I realised he wasn’t being very forthcoming with the details I requested (his credentials, authorisation, who he worked for etc.) My partner answered the ‘private call’ next time he rang and caught him out – he slammed the phone down instantly. Haven’t heard anything since.

6. 

   Alan April 21st, 2010 at 16:41

   I had the same thing last week. Got a call from someone saying the were from the police and thanking for support over the last year and wanted to pass my details to another company to renew our support in a crime prevention booklet. I had seen this web page and thought would play along. They called confirming it had been passed from West Mids Police and would I support them again as my company had done previously. Yet again thought would play along and ensure the had to go to the effort of sending an invoice.It has arrived toady from Trafalgar Press Ltd. I emailed asking for details and got a vague reply about cant let you see artwork as is not done till year end. Will keep you all updated

7. 

   Alan April 21st, 2010 at 17:27

   I have had a prompt resonse after I asked some questions ie what is name of publication, what do I get for my money and which charities they surpport(several apparently)They said they would cancel the invoice and pass my details back to the organisation who passed on my details. I will be doing likewise and passing on to West Mids Police.

8. 

   Dom May 17th, 2010 at 13:58

   Got the call today – a scouser calling and talking very fast to thank me for my involvement in the local Handbook, and started quoting something about £199 for a quarter page – it didn’t sound right, but I couldn’t remember if i had advertised in such a publication or not – the call seemed very much like a warm up call to try and elicit my name – which i gave them incorrectly.

   It really is criminal – who do we report this to, the police?

   Thanks

9. 

   Phillip May 17th, 2010 at 15:16

   Had a call from someone today pulling this scam – claimed that I had authorised an advert earlier this year with “Teressa” for the National Crime Prevention publication.

   He talked alot about how successful the campaign had been before he stated the our advert was to go into the magazine. At this stage I “smelt a rat” and stated that I had never authorised an advert.

   We are a charity and he was trying to con me for £199 “as we all help each other out”. The other notable fact was that he had the name of our organisation slightly incorrect – something that wouldn’t have happened if he had really had authorisation for an advert.

   Fortunately we spend very little on advertising and it is improbable that I would advertise in such a publication.

10. 

    Jo May 20th, 2010 at 11:46

    I have had my third big row with these people, who are complete con merchants. I explained that I would never IN A MILLION YEARS have taken an ad. in this magazine. (We have a tiny ad. budget and it is totally locally targeted.) They claim to have a record of a telephone conversation when I booked the ad. – I said, ‘if you can play it back to me, I’ll pay you’. If they call again, I am going to call the Police.

11. 

    Kenny May 27th, 2010 at 03:57

    I had a call yesterday from the ‘Police’ (heavy Scouse accent). When I questioned “the Police?” He said it was nothing to worry about he just wanted to thank me for supporting the last campaign etc. I said I couldn’t remember any support. He said that I had supported it and made a difference helping the ‘kiddywinks’. He then said if I want to support them again a half page ad is £120. I then said that I definitly hadn’t supported them and I don’t advertise anyway as I get business from word of mouth. He then just hung up. I called my local police station to report it, although they hadn’t heard of the scam (I’m based in the West Midlands).

12. 

    Bonnie Walters June 23rd, 2010 at 17:56

    Hi Rita,

    I received a call and they said exactly the same to me. Said they were from the National Crime Prevention Unit and wanted to ask me three questions.

    If I belonged to a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme
    If I had a security alarm
    If I lived in a flat or a house

    I refused to answer all three on the grounds that I didn’t know who they really were. They excused themselves and put the phone down. When I dialled 1471 the number was with-held.

    I have reported them to the police and will let you know if I hear anything.

13. 

    Bev July 5th, 2010 at 14:03

    Received call today – 5th July 2010 from man claiming to be from Police and looking for any help / attentance at National Crime Prevention Week – asked him when and he stuttered and I asked if he was a Police Officer and he said no, a volunteer. I then told him to send me any literature that he had and we would look at it. He had a Liverpool accent (I think). Not very convincing once questioned about stuff but be on your guard anyway.

14. 

    Bernie August 6th, 2010 at 09:24

    6 August 2010 – yes they’re still at it! I had a call today from a lady called ‘Kerry’ (number witheld) saying she was from the Crime Prevention Unit (a voluntary group) asking for £149 from us to place our logo in the London copy of the new Crime Prevention Year Book. She said the profits went to Crimestoppers and Victim Support. I’ve checked this out and of course it’s untrue. Please warn your colleagues not to be taken in by this.

15. 

    sue August 9th, 2010 at 15:38

    sadly i have the same call manchester but isent them a cheque i av phonedthem its a answers phone they are called wilson haines for crime prevention and j r media cancer awareness they both sent me billheads and a copy of the advertisement so i paid them

16. 

    avril August 10th, 2010 at 11:05

    Got a call today “crime prevention” booklet for schools that he said I had agreed in June to sponsor.They are very clever and are recording the call and you could easily agree with them.Thats all they need you to do and then they send you an invoice for £400.We were caught the same way by PRACTICAL PUBLICATIONS when they caught my husband off guard.They thanked him for sponsoring their fire prevention booklet and were very friendly.He assumed Id sponsored them(Ihadn’t!)and sent us a bill for £450.I am refusing to pay.They are now threatening us with the baliffs!

17. 

    Chloe August 24th, 2010 at 16:21

    “The Police” just called the charity i work for. They asked whether we wanted to place an ad with them again, as we apparently did last year. I dont know how they sleep at night.

18. 

    Lisa August 25th, 2010 at 16:52

    I’ve had two calls in a week. I was a little confused at first as the ‘gentleman’ said he was from Crime Prevention Staffordshire and further to our conversation last week he just wanted to finalise some details with me. As I had not had a conversation with anyone from there I became suspicious and asked for his contact details. He asked me why and I said that obviously someone had fraudulently used my details or they themselves were trying to scam me. I asked for his manager and he said ‘ well I’m not going to do that I am I!’. I abruptly said to him..’well obviously its you trying to scam me then’- to my amazement he then replied ‘well, you can’t blame me for trying.. you sounded a little bit blonde on the phone! ‘ and laughed! I was just gob-smacked that he’d blatantly admitted it was a scam! Not sure what they are after whether its bank details or just to con you into advertising with them but I recieved a call from them again today , but this time it was a woman – it sounded like a call centre in the background. I tried to play along and asked her if she could just give me her number as I may be cut off and I’d like to ring her back. She immediately put the phone down on me. These scum shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this – all small businesses need every penny they have right now but these people have no conscience at all.

19. 

    bryn September 1st, 2010 at 15:40

    we have been contacted by the drugs awareness campaign today and also the child protection network its now getting beyond a joke something needs to be done about this. The start of the conversation congratulates us on the supporting them last time, and now the paymant is due for the latest advert we had agreed to do with them.

20. 

    Panache September 5th, 2010 at 10:58

    Some edits to my previous comment: (btw, webmaster, your temporary edit link doesn’t allow me to edit! It says I’m not authorised)

    What I don’t get is this: you people are in a position to obtain ALL the details FROM these scammers (I’m not, because I don’t own a small business, so I was not targeted) since these scammers would OBVIOUSLY HAVE TO give you at least SOME contact details of where to send your money: an address (even if it’s just a PO Box) to send your cheque to, or a bank account for you to deposit your “sponsorship” money to, so why don’t you play along and obtain these details (as many as you can, the more the better, get both a physical address, telling them you’ll send a cheque, then tell them it would actually be more convenient for you to deposit the money directly into their account, I’m sure they’ll salivate at that prospect) and then pass all those details onto the fraud desk of you local constabulary??

    I’m sure the REAL police can EASILY and fairly cheaply set up a sting operation to catch them. Yet all you do is try to pick holes in their stories and expose them as scammers on the phone! No! What use is that, apart from you feeling a bit happy and superior that you’ve “told them”.

    They are clearly laughing at you and still all the way to the bank.
    Then they just keep on doing this until someone falls for it and it never ends.

    Help catch them! It will feel much more satisfying too.

21. 

    admin September 5th, 2010 at 16:12

    Hi Panache,

    Thank you for the comment; it is a good comment and it does raise some good points.

    However :-

    For the person/company being “scammed” to get to this point they would have to “accept” and “agree” to what the person is saying on the phone. The tactic they commonly use against anyone is to record the calls and claim they have recordings to proove the person they called “agreed and accepted” what they were “selling” (advertising/support)

    This can then put the scammed person in a difficult position and the “scammers” could legally argue that the person they are chasing for money “agreed” to pay.

    Adscams