Category: Fight Back

Barry Payling Wins Over Energy Suppliers

Barry Payling, a freelance photographer, was paid more than £2,000 by British Gas, after he threatened the company with court action following two years of disputes.

Mr Payling, was about to take the energy company to the County Court following claims they miscalculated his bills, sent debt collectors to his home for money he didn’t owe and sent his mother a letter asking her to sign up with them – after she had died.

He logged every phone call he made and every letter he sent to British Gas during working hours, then billed them for his loss of earnings, and planned to demand the £2,108 sum at court.

Audrey Gallacher, the head of energy at Consumer Focus, the Government watchdog, said: “Energy companies must realise that their customers’ time is just as valuable as their own, and when they inconvenience people it is more than just an annoyance. Not every consumer will be able to challenge the poor service they receive, so it is important that companies act properly in the first place”.

Mr Payling’s dispute with British Gas started around two years ago, after he complained about representatives from the firm calling repeatedly at his mother’s home.

She died in June last year, but afterwards British Gas sent her a letter asking her to sign up for their Homecare service, pleading ‘please come back to us’.

The company also sent a debt collector to his house two days before Christmas Eve, requesting payment for a £500 debt he didn’t owe.

“Every time I sent a letter, and every time I made a phone call, I logged it. Then I used my rate as a photographer to bill them for my time, which came to £2,108. I told them to pay me, they said no. I said: ‘If you don’t pay me I will see you in court’ – and now British Gas have paid me the £2,100.”

Which? Legal Services, said that It can be very hard to claim any costs for your own time from any company and the courts are very reluctant to order such costs. However, most Ombudsman schemes will make awards for inconvenience to compensation customers for the way a company has treated them.

If you have managed to get recompense from a utility company – do let me know, by email.

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Report Facebook Adverts as Scams

Facebook promised £3 million to help support anti-scam services as well as introducing a tool to report scam adverts on the UK version of Facebook.

However, this is all due to Martin Lewis, a TV presenter and journalist who advises people on financial issues. He took Facebook to court for repeatedly failing to stop scammers using his name to advertise scam products.

Scammers often use the names of well-known people to make their offers seem more attractive and legitimate and Facebook has done very little to stop this practice or clamp down when this is reported.

Lewis sued Facebook in April 2018 they settled him by agreeing to donate £3m to Citizens Advice and create a new scam advert reporting tool.

Now, Facebook has launched the button on its UK site to allow people to report scam adverts. This lets users click the three dots ‘. . .‘ on the top right of an advert and then select the ‘Report Ad‘ function, followed by ‘Misleading or scam advert‘. Then, they have to confirm that they want to send a detailed scam report.

This is a big win for Lewis, who had his name hijacked and reputation damaged and had to spend $100,000 facing the social media giant down in court and turned the whole thing into something positive that will help consumers. Nice one Martin.

Well done Facebook, but shame you only agreed to the action because of a court case.

If you have any experiences with scammers or fake adverts on Facebook – do let me know, by email.

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Canadian Anti Scam Centre

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) is the central agency in Canada that collects information and criminal intelligence on mass marketing fraud (e.g. telemarketing), advance fee fraud, Internet fraud, identification theft complaints and similar matters.

The website is www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca  and contains information on frauds, advice on how to protect yourself against fraud and how to report scams.

In Canada, there has recently been :

  • A marked increase in the amount of mail with too-good-to-be-true offers
  • Frequent calls offering get-rich-quick schemes or valuable awards
  • Numerous calls for donations to fake charities
  • Many people finding their banking records show cheques or withdrawals made to unknown companies

CAFC advice that if you suspect that someone you know has fallen prey to a deceptive telemarketer, don’t criticize them for being naïve. Encourage that person to share their concerns with you about unsolicited calls or any new business or charitable dealings. Assure them that it is not rude to hang up on suspicious calls. Keep in mind that criminal telemarketers are relentless in hounding people – some victims report receiving 5 or more calls a day, wearing down their resistance.

The Vision of the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

  • Be innovative in its efforts to disrupt frauds and scams through coordination with its partners.
  • Be an international Centre of Excellence providing the most comprehensive data available in Canada with regard to fraud related resource material, scam types, statistics, trends, and demographics, as well as the size, scope and impact of fraud.
  • Work closely and cooperatively with its numerous partners in a combined effort to proactively identify emerging scams, trends, threats, and criminal organizations operating in Canada across multiple jurisdictions.
  • Provide the highest possible quality service through technology in partnership with law enforcement, government agencies at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, and the private sector.
  • Provide valuable, timely and compassionate assistance to victims of fraud.

Stay safe online.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

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Sky Women

Sky Women (http://skywomen.co.za) is a non-profit community service company that offers a one-stop helpline, Information and Support Centre for victims of 419 scams/ cyber fraud within South Africa and Globally.

The company’s aim is to take action against 419 scams/ cyber fraud on social media platforms and thus protect its potential victims by creating public awareness through its 419 Scam awareness campaigns, pro-active prevention, education and support of scam victims in South Africa. Most of their guidelines apply equally to anyone in any country.

Sky Women also offers scam awareness and education presentations at schools and on “Talk shows” as well as presents a series of television programs to inform the public about the danger of 419 scams/cyber fraud and the supportive role that Sky Women NPC plays to assist scam victims.

Sky Women say they are very much about the psychological damage caused by being scammed as this can be worse than the financial loss in many cases.

Sky Women team has understanding when it comes to the mental abuse, manipulation and impact of scams on a victim. Similar to victims of violent crimes, victims of economic crimes suffer mental and emotional abuse as well as stress-related physical effects.

The effect of victimisation on a scam victim can be like “psychological mugging”.

Sky Women is a non-profit community company and was been formed in direct response to the “high and increasing” number of scam victims on social media platforms within South Africa, it encourages all institutions and government to participate in the fight against scamming and cyber fraud.

The website contains educational material about scams and staying safe plus stories of people who have suffered due to being scammed.

Do enter your email address and click on the subscribe button on top right to keep up to date with new posts.

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Website Review: Spamlaws

SPAMLAWS – HOW TO STOP SCAMS AND FRAUD (www.spamlaws.com)

SpamLaws say they are dedicated to providing accurate and up-to-date information on issues affecting Internet security. They aim to supply the readers with the best Internet protection information and are constantly striving to learn more about and report on the latest and most up-to-date Internet security issues, software, and protection.

They also investigate common Internet based scams and fraud issues.

Their approach to protecting your personal information is “Get informed”.

The “Spam Laws” section of SpamLaws.com was created by David E. Sorkin, a Law Professor at the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law, at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

Professor Sorkin has written and lectured extensively about issues surrounding Internet policy, privacy and consumer protection.

The web site covers Identity Theft, Scams, Spam, Fraud, Antivirus, Spyware, Adware, Backup, Computer Virus & Worms, Wireless Security, Networking, Software Reviews, Phishing, Malware 101, Parental Control, Network Security, Operating Systems, Data Encryption, Browsers, Email Client Software and Password Protection.

The site has sections covering the United States, European Union and some mention of other countries, so you can see which laws are relevant in each jurisdiction.

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James Veitch The Scammer Teaser

James Veitch is a comedian who has a lucrative side-line in making videos of himself responding to scam messages.

He plays along with the scam and engages in ridiculous conversations until they eventually give up but that can take a while as these criminals are determined to part you from your money.

The videos are funny and have crazy graphics to keep you engaged and they work – millions of people watch them.

For example, James receives the message:-

“Hi Phil, my name is Andrew. I’m one of the tenants at 11 Dover Place. I’ve been told you the person to contact regarding upkeep, maintenance etc.”

James does reply and tell him he’s not the person but he refuses to accept that so James then strings him along.

The guy is complaining about the apartment being too hot and wants a thermostatic valve fitted.

James then replies that he cannot do that but he’s having his builder visit on Wednesday to remove one of the windows thereby solving the heating problem and the conversation continues with the guy increasingly worried that a window is to be removed.

It’s handy being a comedian and James has a lot of fun with this and the scammers who contact him but anyone can try this and enjoy wasting the scammer’s time.

James has a series of these videos called the scamalot series at the mashable website www.mashable.com and those plus more on YouTube. www.youtube.com.

Have fun watching and you will learn about scammer tactics and how to have fun baiting the scammers.

Have you tried teasing, provoking, annoying or otherwise wasting the time of these stupid scammers? If so, do let me know, by email.

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