POLICE this week warned residents to be aware of three scams taking place within West Devon. The first is regarding leaflet drops, which are requesting donations of old or unwanted clothing to be made to a company which will redistribute the garments to the poorer areas of the third world or ex-eastern bloc countries. Police say certain companies are advertising these services on the premise of being a charitable organisation, which is not always the case. The police would like to remind people to read any ?small print? carefully on these leaflets. PC John Cockayne said: ?Some companies are not in fact charitable organisations, but are profit making enterprises that rely on your misguided goodwill and generosity to make money. ?There are a number of reputable non-profit making charitable organisations who can recycle your clothing.? If anyone is in doubt as to the validity of any of these companies, visit http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk">www.charity-commission.gov.uk and search the national register. The police are also alerting people to a potential telephone scam. The scam phonecall will start when residents answer their telephone and are greeted by a worried or anxious voice which says: ?Hello, can you help me?? or ?Hello, hello can you hear me??. The call will then end. But as the subscriber is worried about the person?s welfare they phone 1471 to gain the number. The phone number will begin with 0709, ? a premium rate line that costs £1 upwards to ring. PC Cockayne said: ?There will probably be a recorded message intended to keep the caller on line for as long as possible and so gain more money for the scammers.? Another phone scam is aimed at businesses. A telephone call will be received at the premises from a person claiming to be from another company. They will claim the business owes them a small amount of money for stock or a service, supplied to them. As the amount is small, an employee could be tempted to pay it without referring to the owner or manager, giving debit or credit card details to the caller. The details of the cards supplied can then used fraudulently to order goods from around the country until the deception is discovered.
