Archive for category: News & Information

View our final recommendations on our website Today we published our final recommendations for future electoral arrangements for Worcestershire. We have now completed our electoral review of Worcestershire. We are extremely grateful to the people of Worcestershire who took the time and effort to send us their views. We considered every piece of evidence we received before finalising our recommendations. As a result of our recommendations for new division patterns, we are making changes to the parish electoral arrangements for the following parish and town councils: ·        Belbroughton and Fairfield  ·        Droitwich Spa ·        Evesham ·        Kidderminster ·        Kidderminster Foreign ·        Malvern ·        Stourport-on-Severn ·        Wolverley and Cookley The changes we have proposed must now be approved by Parliament. A draft Order – the legal document which brings into force our recommendations – will now be laid before Parliament. The draft Order will provide for new electoral arrangements for Worcestershire to be implemented at the local elections in 2025.

 

 

COURIER FRAUD

Incidents of Courier Fraud continue to feature highly within reported Fraud Crime within our region, and so we have to continue to raise awareness of this type of crime.

Courier Fraud occurs when a fraudster contacts victim by telephone usually claiming to be a police officer, bank official or other law enforcement official.

The caller may also be able to confirm some easily obtainable basic details about the victim such as their full name and address. The caller will try and build up trust with the potential victim before proceeding.

Their aim is to get the victim to reveal their PIN, credit or debit card and /or bank details, and more than often will target the elderly as potential victims.

How does it work?

• The scammer calls you claiming to be from your bank or as a police officer and will tell you either a fraudulent payment on your account needs dealing with, or sometimes that a person has been arrested using your details and cards
• You may be asked to call the bank back to convince you the call is genuine using the number on the reverse of your card. However, the Scammer has still kept the line open so you are still touch with the Scammer
• If you do try to call your Bank back, always wait at least 5 minutes for the line to clear or use another phone
• They will either ask you for your card PIN number or tell you to key it into the phone – you should never be asked for your PIN or pass it over on the phone
• The Caller then tells you they will send a Courier to pick up your card – they may often provide a “password” to give to the Courier to make it sound even more genuine

Once they have your card and your PIN they then have access to your money.

Other versions of this scam include:

• Asking you to withdraw a large sum of cash which the police will mark and return to the banking system in an effort to identify a corrupt banking person – once you hand over the cash to the courier – it is gone
• Scammers have also realised now that when a more vulnerable person goes into the Bank to withdraw large sums of cash the Bank staff become suspicious, so the Scammer may tell the victim to withdraw the cash in Euros from a Foreign Exchange outlet
• A person claiming to be a Police Officer and is investigating sales of counterfeit goods then asks you to buy an expensive item such as a watch or jewellery from a specific retailer. You are then asked to hand it over to the Courier to deliver to the “Police” and again that is the last you see or hear of it.
• A further common variation is to tell you your bank account has been compromised and you need to transfer all your money into a “Safe Account”. Once again you have delivered your cash directly to the Scammer.

Protect yourself

• Your bank or the police will never call you to ask you to verify your personal details or PIN by phone or offer to pick up your card by courier. Hang up if you get a call like this.
• If you need to call your bank back to check, wait five minutes; fraudsters may stay on the line after you hang up. Alternatively, use a different line altogether to call your bank.
• If you think you have been scammed use the dedicated “159” telephone number for direct access to your Bank

IF YOU THINK YOU ARE BEING SCAMMED

OR DO NOT RECOGNISE THE CONTACT

Take Five to Stop Fraud

• STOP: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.
• CHALLENGE: Could it be fake? It’s okay to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
• PROTECT: Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam

and report it to Action Fraud

If you’ve fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via actionfraud.police.uk.

Scam Text messages can be forwarded to 7726 to help phone providers take early action and block numbers that generate spam on their networks.

Forward Fake Emails received to report@phishing.gov.uk

For further information visit:

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/    https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/

Honeybourne Remembers

On Thursday, June 6 residents of Honeybourne, Councillors and the local school children came together to remember the tens of thousands of allied forces who gave service on D-DAY eighty years ago and helped secure the peace we in the United Kingdom enjoy today.

Children from Honeybourne Primary Academy read out poems that they had composed, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on this day eighty years ago. We then welcomed the Alcester Silver Band who entertained us with musical memories of wartime.

For those of us feeling a bit hungry our mobile fish and chip shop provided a top class hot meal.

For over 160 years fish and chips have been a firm favourite with the British  public, providing  nourishment for the nation. This humble meal was a vital ingredient of the war effort in both First and Second World Wars.  The British Government safeguarded the supply of fish and potatoes during both world  wars to ensure the dish remained a boost to morale and these foods were among the few not be subject to rationing during both world wars.

In common with many locations throughout the nation the beacon of peace was lit at 9.15pm by local resident Mr Simon Steward, who has served in the armed forces for 22 years and the International Tribute was read out by Cllr G Clelland.

The Parish Council would like to thank everyone who attended.