We have been notified by Gloucestershire Police that there are a number of scams doing the rounds. I’ll copy and paste their wording below of a few to be aware of.
1) Clap for Carers (NOT a scam but to discourage sky lanterns)
Tonight at 8pm we hope you will join us in showing your appreciation for the NHS and Carers by clapping with us. You may just about be able to here us across the valley !!
The local police understand there is a plan afoot to release Sky lanterns on Sunday evening – please be mindful that in our rural community these can easily scare horses and wildlife and if they land in the wrong place such as a hay store can start a fire. Please do not let off sky lanterns.
Thank you Andrew Pease for this message – One of their valued neighbourhood coordinators.
2) Charity Scams
In the last two weeks, people in the county have fallen victim to con artists pretending to be from charities asking for money to help vulnerable people during the outbreak, people advertising rental properties they don’t own asking for down payments because of the outbreak and emails falsely claiming to be from the Government and asking for bank details. More information on coronavirus scams, all types of fraud and how to report them can be found on the Action Fraud website. https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
‘Take Five’ to stop fraud
During these difficult times, it’s important that you remain vigilant and guard against criminals using the publicity around coronavirus as a chance to target you with fraudulent emails, phone calls, texts messages or social media posts. Take Five is a national campaign that offers straight-forward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud. More information can be found here: https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/coronavirus-fraud-and-scams/
Sadly these are not the first, and they won’t be the last – stay home, stay safe, be sensible.