Why do people call then say nothing or put the phone down?

This happens to everyone very occasionally – usually someone dialled a wrong number and realised and put the phone down or didn’t recognise the voice answering your phone and realised their mistake and put the phone down.

But, this can be a regular occurrence and then the reasons are more concerning.

Automated Calling Systems

A lot of marketing companies and scammers use automated diallers that call people in turn on a list. To maximise use of their staff, they set the diallers to call numerous people at the same time in the hope that at least some will answer the phone and those get put through to operatives.

However, this method also means many people will get silent calls when all operatives are already on the line to other people.

The law changed some years ago to outlaw this practice and most companies comply, but criminals don’t.

The law on automated calls is quite strict. They must not make an automated marketing call – that is, a call made by an automated dialling system that plays a recorded message – unless the person has specifically consented to receive this type of call from you. General consent for marketing, or even consent for live calls, is not enough – it must specifically cover automated calls.

All automated calls must include their name and a contact address or freephone number. They must also allow their number (or an alternative contact number) to be displayed to the person receiving the call.

Any message left by an automated system must specify the name of the calling company and give a number you can call to opt out of further calls.

If the automated message does not contain these, then assume it’s a scam and block the number.

Internet Calls

Internet-based calling technology, also known as Voice Over Internet Protcol (VoIP), is used by millions of consumers globally to make phone calls free or cheaply every year.

But it’s also used by scammers as it’s cheaper than phone calls and it makes it easy for the criminals to hide or fake (this is called spoofing) the number they are calling from.  For this reason, do not trust what shows as the callers number.

Most silent calls nowadays come from these computer calling systems overseas.

Telephone Preference Service

See https://fightback.ninja/the-telephone-preference-service/ for more details on TPS

At present, landline customers can request to have nuisance calls blocked by registering on the Telephone Preference Service. The free opt out service allows you to record your preference on the official register and not receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls.

Companies (including charities) who choose not to check and then subsequently call a number on the register can be fined up to £6,500 for each registered number they call.

Makers of repeated abandoned and/or silent calls can be reported to Ofcom which has powers including fining the caller up to £2 million.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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How to Check A Used Vehicle Before Buying

The starting point is to consider the level of guarantee that you need with a used car. If you need expert assurance that the vehicle is safe and has no serious hidden problems then a main dealer garage would be a good choice, whereas if you are willing to take a risk to get a lower price then buying from a private seller or a car auction may be your choice.

Independent garages, private sellers, eBAY etc all have their advantages and disadvantages for you to consider.

Before you see the vehicle

  1. Ask the seller for the registration number, make and model and MOT test number
  2. Check the details match those of the registration on the DVLA website at gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla
  3. Check the MOT status and history for the vehicle at gov.uk/check-mot-history
  4. Check if the vehicle has been recalled due to a serious safety issue at gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall

When you go to see the vehicle

  1. Ask to see the V5C vehicle registration certificate (‘log book’). Make sure it has a ‘DVL’ watermark and make sure the details in the log book match the details you’ve been given.
  2. Check the vehicle identification number and engine number if possible, to ensure they match the details in the log book.

These checks do not guarantee any vehicle is safe but they do give some peace of mind and will help you avoid the worst scams and other problems.

The government website at www.gov.uk/checks-when-buying-a-used-car gives detailed advice on what to check and how to get the necessary information when looking to buy a used car.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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How To Report An Unsafe Place to The Police Using Streetsafe

 

If you or someone else are in danger then you may need to call 999. That’s not what Streetsafe is about.

As part of the government’s agenda to tackle violence against women and girls, we are trialling a new online tool called StreetSafe to enable people, particularly women and girls, to report locations where they feel or have felt unsafe and to identify the features on why that location made them feel unsafe.

StreetSafe is also not for reporting crime or incidents.

StreetSafe is a pilot service for anyone to anonymously tell the Police about public places where you have felt or feel unsafe, because of environmental issues, eg street lighting, abandoned buildings or vandalism and/or because of some behaviours, eg being followed or verbally abused.

The focus of the pilot is to identify particular areas and factors that lead to people feeling unsafe and might help offenders either commit or conceal a crime – such as street lighting, abandoned buildings or poorly designed spaces, vandalism, as well as behaviours of individuals or groups of people.

You can report on Streetsafe without needing to give any identity details, so it is anonymous.

Streetsafe asks where you felt unsafe and why. Possible reasons include:

Environmental (related to places/locations) :

  • Absence of CCTV
  • Badly lit e.g. poor or no street lighting
  • Empty buildings or isolated places
  • Poor street layout e.g. blind spots and hidden areas
  • Restricted visibility e.g. overgrown bushes and trees, walls
  • Rundown e.g. derelict buildings, abandoned cars, graffiti, fly-tipping etc.
  • Signs of drug or alcohol use
  • Other

Behavioural (related to people) :

  • Verbal harassment from / by a single stranger
  • Verbal harassment from / by a group of people
  • Feeling like you are being followed / have previously been followed
  • Other forms of harassment

What is StreetSafe?

The data from StreetSafe will be made available to Police and Crime Commissioners and local policing teams to share with local authorities and other stakeholders as part of their community partnerships to have a better understanding of geographical profiles and inform their community safety activities.

If you have any experiences with Streetsafe do let me know, by email.

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