Surrey County Council Trading Standards - TS @lert!
May is Scams Awareness Month!
Citizens Advice and the Trading Standards Institute have teamed up with a campaign to highlight the problem of scams, tell people how to avoid being taken in and how they can fight back against the scammers.
Every year more than three million people in the UK fall victim to scams losing hundreds and even thousands of pounds. It is estimated that nearly half of people in the UK (48 per cent) have been targeted by a scam and that £3.5 billion is lost to scams every year.
Common Scams include:
• Prize draw and sweepstake scams
• Foreign lottery scams
• Email ‘phising’ scams
• Premium rate and telephone prize scams
• Work at home and business opportunity scams
• Pyramid selling and chain letter scams
• Miracle health and slimming cure scams
• Clairvoyant and psychic mailing scams
• Bogus holiday clubs
• Advanced fee frauds, and
• Bogus business publishing offers
If you have been targeted by a scam, or know someone who has then call Action Fraud. 0300 123 2040 www.actionfraud.police.uk
Learn more about scams and how to protect yourself www.citizensadvice.org.uk and search scams.
For advice call Trading Standards via Citizen Advice Consumer Service on 08454 040506.
Follow the #ScamsMonth on Twitter!
RATs !
We have a team of officers that form a Rapid Action Team (affectionately known as RATs!)
Annually, Surrey residents are deceived out of hundreds of thousands of pounds by doorstep conmen. The Trading Standards Rapid Action Team exists to provide a quick response to calls regarding Doorstep Callers, received by Trading Standards, from any source, especially members of the public.
Just to give you an example, last Friday was a busy day ....
1. An elderly resident from the Farnham area was advised when approached by a trader offering to paint the house walls and subsequently went on to find other 'repairs' that needed doing. No paperwork was given.
Advice = £300 saved!
2. A doorstep trader in the Guildford area offered to clean a driveway which was agreed BUT then went on to start painting the walls and tried to charge for it!
Advice = £100 saved
3. A caring member of staff at a bank suspected something wasn't right when a vulnerable resident from the Epsom area asked to withdraw a large amount of cash for some roofing work that started out as a cheap cleaning the gutter job.
Great partnership working with Epsom & Ewell Police and intervention = £480 saved
Find out more about the teams work in the link below.
If you need help & advice please call 08454 04 05 06
Cigarettes & Alcohol
You can now report incidents of traders selling age restricted products such as cigarettes and alcohol to children to us via Twitter and Facebook.
We would also welcome any intelligence about counterfeit alcohol and cigarettes.
For all other advice or reporting please use the usual method of calling an advisor on 08454 04 05 06 or filling in this online form - http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/consumer_complaint
Please private message us as we will delete posts that mention traders in the public domain.
Please also note that by using these accounts to give us this information does NOT guarantee a reply as they are not monitored 24/7 BUT we will take note of this Intel!
@surreyts
facebook.com/surreytradingstandards
Don't get bitten by a Loan Shark!
We have been working with the Trading Standards Illegal Money Lending Team throughout the county and this last week we have been raising awareness in the Stanwell (Spelthorne) area.
Leaflets and posters have been distributed and people chatted to!
Loan sharks are illegal moneylenders who often charge very high interest rates.
If you spot a loan shark, or have borrowed money from one, you can report them anonymously 24 hrs a day:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
0300 555 2222
Text LOAN SHARK and the lender’s details to 60003
Recalls
We know that returning a recalled product is not always convenient, especially if it's an item that you use every day, but recall notices keep consumer safe!
The small inconvenience of returning a recalled item is worth it when you consider that faulty products can electrocute or cause a fire and recalled food items may cause illness or anaphylactic shock.
Why not bookmark these three sites and make a point of checking them every Tuesday #CheckItTuesday
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/advice-recall-list.cfm
http://recalluk.com/
http://www.food.gov.uk/
Crunch Craving Chocolate Coated Raisins recalled
Clandeboye Agencies is recalling a batch of Crunch Craving Chocolate Coated Raisins because they contain peanuts that are not mentioned on the label. This makes the products a possible health risk to those who are allergic to peanuts.
Blue Dragon Wasabi Plum Shot withdrawn
AB World Foods Ltd is withdrawing all date and batch codes of Blue Dragon Wasabi Plum Shot because the product contains milk that is not mentioned on the label. This makes the product a possible health risk for people who are allergic or intolerant to milk or milk constituents.
Customers who are allergic or intolerant to milk and its constituents are advised not to eat this product, but to contact the Careline on Freephone: 0800 0195 617 for a full refund.
Asda withdraws further burgers due to sulphites
Asda has withdrawn more packs of its Little Eat Beef, Cheese and Tomato Burgers, because the product contains sulphites, which are not mentioned on the label. This makes these burgers a possible health risk for people who are sensitive to sulphites.
The full list of 'use by' dates that are affected by the withdrawal of this product:
Asda 6 Little Eat Beef, Cheese & Tomato Burgers
Pack size: 450g
'Use by' dates: 13 April 2013, 14 April 2013, 15 April 2013, 18 April 2013, 19 April 2013, 20 April 2013, 24 April 2013, 25 April 2013, 26 April 2013, 27 April 2013, 28 April 2013, 29 April 2013, 30 April 2013, 1 May 2013, 2 May 2013, 3 May 2013
Some people with asthma are sensitive to sulphites and relatively small amounts may trigger an asthma attack. If you’re allergic or sensitive to sulphites, please do not eat this product but return it to the nearest store for a refund.
