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Advice? Help Yourself:
For information, advice, guidance and learning materials in community languages
visit:- www.multikulti.org.uk:
(c) Hillingdon and Ealing Citizens Advice
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Campaigning for
Change - Spot the Scams
During August and September
2011 Citizens Advice carried out a survey to find out which of 10 common scams
and frauds people are most concerned about Some 5,200 people across the UK and
beyond completed the questionnaire.
Spot
the scam survey results
Over
4,200 responses were received from people in England and Wales alone. Overall the
issues that concerned people in England and Wales most were:
|
Issue |
Mentioned
by (%) |
| Switching
(where customers end up paying more) |
50 |
| Debt
advice firms that charge and don’t sort out your debts. |
46 |
| Prizes:
where you pay fees, tax etc, but there’s no prize |
34 |
| Building
work where you pay but the work doesn’t happen |
32 |
| Loan
offers where you pay fees etc but you don’t get a loan |
31 |
Overall,
the results were similar across England and Wales, but there were some
variations.
- Switching
scams were more likely to be mentioned by people living in Wales, less
likely but still a concern for over 30% in London
- In
London, concern about debt advice appeared less marked than elsewhere, but
still a concern for over a third of respondents
- Responses
from London were more likely to mention accommodation and job offers
- North
East England responses suggested a higher level of concern about meter key
scams and loan offers
- Responses
from Wales were more likely to mention prizes and on-line ticket scams.
To find out more about
common scams which concern people in your area, and nationally and what action
you can take to avoid them, click on the report below:-
Common
Scams.pdf
Other
sources of information
Other
useful sources of information on different types of scam and how they affect
people are:
The
OFT also publish:
- Can
you stop the person you care for being scammed
(for carers and care professionals, booklet, 12 pp, available in English and
Welsh)
- Scams:
don’t let them con you
(scams awareness DVD)
These
can be ordered by phone (0800 389 3158) or online from
the OFT website.
The OFT web site also has other material, on doorstep trading for example –
see
OFT publications.
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