Notts Fraud Protect Police

16/07/26 – Notts Fraud & Cyber Protect – Shaun Douglas

An update on Clive Rees said that he was back home after a fall and visit to A & E. Rob provided Information about our ‘Litter picking’ exercise in Bingham on the 23^rd;; 3 teams meeting at 4pm. Max, Daniel and Mike Twells were presented with their medals for their Swimathon performances.

Shaun then started his presentation, saying that Fraud Protect was set up 6 or 7 years ago, under ‘Operation Signature’; whilst he had joined the Police in April 1989 and had various roles since then. Victims of Fraud generally do not like reporting fraud as they feel somewhat embarrassed, but they should consider it as ‘theft with deception’. 46% of ALL reported crime is fraud and they can be split into different categories:

Courier Fraud (impersonation) they should not consider themselves victims of ‘ignorance’, but victims of ‘circumstances. The Police, Banks or HMRC do not normally call you, end the call and phone them back on the number on your card.  If it’s an appointment that has been made, ALWAYS check their ID. Shaun then showed us a video demonstrating such circumstances. He mentioned an example where someone had purchased 12 Rolex watches! Next came Romance Fraud, a growing sector, but if images are involved there are two internet sites that can help: Google images and Tineye.com, which could show same image with a number of different names. Basically: never respond to requests for money; never give out your bank details; never transfer any money. Watch out for the ‘sob story’. A surprising example here was a lady in north Notts who thought she had been in a relationship with William, the Prince of Wales! There is an organisation called Notts Victim Care Support for such sensitive issues. Missed delivery scam, never press on a link, report any unwanted texts, scams free to 7726 so your mobile phone supplier can flag potential scams. Remove your name from the OPEN Electoral Register, watch out for Rogue Trader Fraud. Investment fraud: beware unexpected contact, offers of bonuses and pressure dates, unrealistic returns; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is! Watch out for KRYPTO Currency scams and Money Mules (receiving money into your account from a criminal, then transferring it to another account {money laundering}; it can be quite tempting for young people). CIFAS is an organisation that deals with fraud prevention. Shaun’s final gesture was to give us all some very useful leaflets.

Rob gave the vote of thanks explaining that he had been involved in fraud investigation with the NHS (Dental) and found that most major organisations lose between 6 to 10% through some form of fraud and individuals are even more vulnerable He thanked Shaun for his excellent and comprehensive presentation reminding us all to be vigilant at all times and asked the members to join him in an appreciative round of applause.              AR