OFT sends out ’scam’ texts to warn consumers

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it is to send out fake ’scam’ text messages to consumers as part of their Scams Awareness month.

According to the OFT, an estimated six per cent of scam victims are aged between 15 and 24, which is part of the motivation for the campaign.

Mike Haley, director of consumer protection at the OFT said that young people can be vulnerable to consumer scams offered through new forms of technology.

“We hope that our innovative approach of sending fake scam text messages will remind young consumers to be on their guard if they receive a suspicious offer,” he said.

The text message reads as ‘Urgent! U may have won £1k cash with ‘2 Good 2 B True’ and is expected to be followed by a second message making it clear that there is no prize and that the message has been sent by the OFT to warn about scams.

According to the OFT, up to three million consumers are victims of scams per year.

Tags: Fair Trading, Mike Haley, fake scam text, Awareness, GBP, Scams Awareness month, scam, consumer protection

OFT calls for more protection for elderly consumers

The Office for Fair Trading (OFT) has launched a campaign to help protect elderly consumers from becoming victims of scams.

Findings from the body revealed that older consumers are likely to lose twice as much as other consumers who fall victim to offers such as bogus lotteries, deceptive prize draw and sweepstakes.

Mike Haley, OFT Director of Consumer Protection, said that scammers use sophisticated psychological techniques to target the more vulnerable members of society such as those afflicted by illness or who are socially isolated.

“Those who fall for these scams not only lose their savings, but often live in fear, suffering debt and depression and are too afraid to tell anyone of their plight,” he added.

OFT has unveiled a new leaflet for carers and care professionals, ‘Can you stop the person you care for from being scammed?’ and an accompanying leaflet, ‘Don’t Let them Con You’ to try and increase awareness of scammers.

According to research, up to three million consumers fall victim to scams every year which is estimated to cost the public £3.5 million.

Tags: Con, campaign, GBP, sweepstakes, draw, Awareness, victim

UKSIF plans week to promote greener investments

The UK Social Investment Forum (UKSIF) is to run the first National Ethical Investment Week next year, it has emerged.

Members of financial professions will be encouraged to raise awareness of the variety of green and ethical investment options available during the week, which will take place between May 18th and 24th.

The initiative has received the backing of some of the industry leaders in ethical and green investment products, such as Friends Provident, Norwich Union and Henderson Global Investors.

George Latham, head of SRI at Henderson Global Investors, commented: “The evidence can no longer be ignored: consumer interest in sustainable and responsible investing is continuing to grow rapidly.”

“This initiative is a welcome and necessary contribution to the ethical debate, raising the profile of the industry and underlining that investing with a conscience can be a powerful and profitable catalyst for change,” Mr Latham added.

Meanwhile, fund propositions manager at Norwich Union, James Dalby, said that the week would help dispel the “many myths” that surround ethical investment, which he said are “generally untrue”.

Tags: social investment forum, Business ethics, profile, National, investment options, norwich union

Halifax sets up dormant accounts service

Halifax announced today that it will be reuniting customers with money held in lost or forgotten-about bank accounts.

It is estimated that a total of £44 million is being held in so-called ‘dormant’ accounts.

Around 20,000 of its customers will be written to, with the savings bank estimating that these customers hold around £40 million of the total.

Halifax have also set up a website, halifaxlocateaccounts.co.uk, where customers can fill in and submit an online enquiry form to find out about dormant accounts that might be retrieved.

Mike Regnier, head of savings at Halifax, said that “the response to our campaign to reunite customers with their funds has been very encouraging, and we believe these next steps in the process will help more customers track down their money”.

An advertising campaign is scheduled to run in the press next week, to raise public awareness of the scheme by acting as a ‘memory-jogger’ for customers.

The bank is currently the only one in the UK to carry a dormant accounts reunification service.

Tags: dormant accounts reunification, dormant accounts, reunification, head of savings, Awareness, Banking, enquiry, forgotten-about bank accounts.It