Consumers Warned To Be Alert

During National Scam Awareness Month, The Highland Council’s Trading Standards Officers have been warning consumers and community groups not to fall victim to marketing scams and passing on useful tips on how to recognise and report on them.

Earlier this week Trading Standards Officer Glenys Brown met up with members of the Dalneigh Friendship Group to give a presentation highlighting the tricks and practises unscrupulous companies use to try and con people out of money. She showed examples of some of the elaborate scams which people across the country have fallen victim to and gave advice on how to report companies who you suspect are running scams.

UK consumers lose £1 billion each year to scams. Head of Trading Standards Nigel MacKenzie said: "This month we have been busy highlighting the dangers of people falling for scams which come under a lot of disguises into people’s homes via the internet, telephone, post and mobile phones. The majority of them are very sophisticated and can be hard to spot. The people behind them set out to particularly target elderly and vulnerable people and once people lose their money there is little chance of getting any of it back.

"Consumers who are caught out often feel foolish and do not wish to come forward. We want to encourage anyone who thinks they have been a victim of a scam to let us know in confidence and we can investigate. They should ring our Consumer Advice Line on 0845 600 4222 or talk to an advisor at Consumer Direct (Scotland) on 08454 04 05 06."