scam

Police investigating reports of a phone scam, which has led to one person aged in their 80s handing over substantial sums of money, are appealing for information.

Officers are also warning residents in Devon to be vigilant of the scam, in which the caller is pretending to be a police officer.

Detectives say they have had an increased number of calls about this scam over the...

Trading Standards is warning homeowners across Devon, Somerset, Plymouth, and Torbay to be wary of scammers who are trying to take advantage of concerns about ‘toxic mould’.

Heart of the South West Trading Standards says that there have been a number of instances of scammers attempting to dupe householders into handing over money for fake ‘toxic mould’ surveys.

There have...

Police investigating reports of a phone scam which has led to two people in their 80s handing over substantial sums of money are appealing for information.

Officers are also warning residents in Devon to be vigilant of the scam, in which the caller is pretending to be a police officer.

Detectives say they have had an increased number of calls about this scam over the past...

Businesses in Plymouth are being warned of a brand new scam where cyber criminals are using very old fashioned methods.

Normally criminals try to hack into a business’s systems through the internet – often by breaking into someone’s email, or looking for weak passwords.

But security researchers have spotted that one criminal gang is now posting out USB drives.

“...

Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards is warning people to be wary of suspicious emails as fraudsters attempt to exploit the spread of coronavirus.

Since last month the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has identified 21 reports across Britain where coronavirus was mentioned with victims losing over £800,000 in total.

Ten of these reports were made by victims...

Trading Standards is again warning Devon residents to check the credentials of companies selling energy efficiency products following an increase in consumer complaints.

A recent example is a company who claims to offer government-backed energy-saving grants of up to £8,000. Scam letters have been sent to properties in Devon from a company purporting to act on behalf of the Energy...

Police are hunting for a bogus charity collector who stole money from an elderly blind woman in her Plymouth home.

The 79-year-old woman was visited at home in Leigham by a man claiming to be selling items on behalf of a charity for dyslexia.

He invited himself in and remained at her home for around 45 minutes, insisting that she buy household products which she did not need....

Plymouth City Council’s Trading Standards Team, are working in partnership with Devon and Cornwall Police to tackle the serious impact of scam mail.

Crafty con artists have managed to scam a total £400,000 out of 195 people in Plymouth in the last two years. Nationally it is estimated scams targeting people by phone or post alone cost people in the UK an estimated UK £10 billion each...

Crafty con artists have managed to scam £255,000 out of 146 people in Plymouth.

Trading Standards have visited these people as a result of receiving a list of over 650 potential scam victims that have been targeted in the city. But officers are warning this is just the tip of the iceberg with only five per cent of these crimes actually being reported.

Scammers use a number of...

Police are urging the public to be vigilant after an incident involving three men believed to be cold calling elderly and vulnerable residents and telling them that repairs were needed on their roofs.

The incident happened on Wednesday 13 April 2016 on Parkfield Road, Torquay.

One resident was in the process of handing over a large amount of cash when the police arrived and...