Our speaker on 14th August was Caroline Plakhtienko, the West Essex Fraud Prevention Co-ordinator from Essex Police Serious Crime Directorate, based at Grays Police Station.
Members were fascinated by a 40 minute talk on current frauds and how to avoid them. She included advice on changing our passwords regularly and making them stronger; to be vigilant at ATMs and be aware of distractions from fraudsters when using them. She also explained that fraudsters can scan our cards when in our pockets and wallets and helpfully provided metalised covers for our use. Scammers were using fake QR Codes and she explained how to detect the real ones from the fake. She also warned that “missing people” and “injured pets” posts on social media could well be scams and not to reshare them with others. Fake “Romance Dating” was highly lucrative and she explained some of the tricks used to deceive the public and a recent Essex Police conviction of a fraudster within the county. >Caroline then advised that it was better to contact Trading Standards for their recommended traders list when selecting a tradesman because some of the trade checking companies were not actually checking the tradespeople they were promoting. Finally, she explained that the money defrauded mostly went to organised crime and in some cases terror groups and also that many internet frauds were actually perpetrated from abroad and it was very difficult to trace the fraudsters and prosecute.
After her talk many interested members raised questions and Caroline finished by reminding us that 40% of crime in the UK are now fraudulent scams and that we should always think twice when disclosing our personal details - if an offer is too good to be true it could well be a scam. She left for members to take away, Faraday pouches for credit cards, bells for purses and handbags, pens, and much written material with further advice. Andrew Roast gave a vote of thanks to Caroline and the discussion continued after the meeting.