OIC warns of scam ‘council calls’
The OIC is warning people to be wary of callers asking them to take part in a “council survey” and give away personal details.
It follows an incident where a local person was pressed, over the phone, by someone claiming to be from the council, to “give an opinion” on an issue and confirm their name, address and postcode to take part.
Alison Campbell, OIC Trading Standards officer, said: “In the instance reported to us, the caller only gave a first name. The local person who took the call was rightly suspicious of the request for personal details and told the caller she’d be advising Trading Standards about his approach — upon which the caller hung up.
“We’d urge folk to be on the alert and to warn elderly and vulnerable friends and relatives about these kinds of calls, which are usually designed to extract private details to illegally access bank accounts or to carry out identity theft.”
“Always be wary of any unsolicited approach for your personal details, and report suspicious calls to Trading Standards, so we can issue local warnings.”
Trading Standards team can be contacted on 873535 or trading-standards@orkney.gov.