10. Envelope addressing
Adverts offering to give you employment doing envelope addressing and asking you to send money to register – don’t. There is no work, just a scheme to put your own adverts out to get people to join the scheme. You get paid for their names and addresses.
Tips on how to prevent falling victim to a scam
Below are some basic tips on how you can protect yourself from scams:
1. Don’t give out personal details to anyone who contacts you. If necessary, look up their number yourself and telephone them back to check their identity. If it is your bank, they should be able to give you your own personal details.
2. Don’t send money to anyone who contacts you and says you have won a prize. If you did not know you had entered a competition, the chances are it’s a scam.
3. Block premium rate telephone numbers. You can ask your telephone line provider to stop your line from accessing them. (This will not stop crooks using overseas numbers)
4. Block all international numbers. You can get a PIN number to lift the block and it can be reinstated for a small fee
5. You can stop most rogue Internet diallers disguised as pop-ups by blocking all pop-ups. To do this, contact your Internet service provider
6. Check that the number your computer automatically dials up to connect you to the Internet is correct. Is it charged at local rates? If you find your Internet dialler has changed, put it back to the correct number immediately by altering your setting - otherwise you could be charged up to £40 a minute
7. Don't read suspicious adverts on the Internet. Rogue diallers can be disguised as games, e-mail attachments or downloads. If you get a suspicious message, don't just ignore it; try closing the window by pressing the 'ctrl' key and 'w' at the same time
8. Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. You can download free software that will scan your hard drive and clean viruses from your PC.
If you think that you have been affected by a scam and wish to report it, please contact Gwynedd Trading Standards on 01286 682725 or safmas@gwynedd.gov.uk.
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