Hampshire County Council takes scam fight to the government

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THEY prey on the most trusting and vulnerable members of society and promise them dream prizes they will never see.

Now Hampshire County Council is calling for the Government to take action against an increasing number of scams in the county to ensure such mail never reaches people’s letterboxes.

It wants new laws introduced to tackle the problem, which has seen the county council’s Trading Standards Officers record almost 1,500 complaints in the last 12 months – an increase of almost 50 per cent on the previous year.

Council leader Ken Thornber, pictured, has written to Hampshire MPs asking them to consider introducing a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament, which would allow police or other enforcement officers to intercept mail when it enters the country if they have reason to believe it is a scam.

It would also allow Royal Mail to disclose details of potential scam victims to Trading Standards.

Councillor Thornber said: “While most people ignore these scam mailings, some do fall for them and truly believe that sending off sums of money could lead to them winning millions.

“Where many scams originate from abroad, as is commonly the case, there is currently little Trading Standards can do to stop them.

“With the backing of Hampshire’s MPs and their collective support for a change in the law, more of these scams could be intercepted in the future before they even reach their potential victims.”

Hampshire Trading Standards has dealt with numerous scams that prey on people’s money worries, offering too-goodto- be-true offers, cash handouts or prizes.

However, scams even include psychics who threaten to curse individuals who do not send payments. One intercepted and stopped by Hampshire’s Trading Standards officers involved more than 200 people, who were misled into sending money to a bogus overseas sweepstake scam. Hampshire County Council said that at present Royal Mail may be aware of scammers due to the amount of mail received, but are unable to pass this information onto Trading Standards.

Anyone who suspects they have fallen victim to a scam should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or consumer direct.gov.uk. You can also send any scam letters received to: Trading Standards Service, Hampshire County Council, FREEPOST (SCE 7175), Winchester SO23 8ZZ, for intelligence purposes.