Don't be conned by bogus council calls

Don't be conned by bogus phone calls which claim to come from the county council, Leicestershire Trading Standards warned today.

The alert came after Leicestershire County Council received several reports from members of the public, about suspicious calls.

In each case, the caller claimed to come from "Leicester County Council" or "Leicestershire County Council" and said they were doing a phone survey.

Callers have been asked to confirm their name, house number and postcode and asked whether or not they lived alone.

In each case, the callers sounded like they had foreign accents.

In genuine calls from the County Council, or an agency working on behalf of the Council, the caller will clearly explain the purpose of the call and be able to provide a name and number of someone at the Council that will be able to verify that the call is genuine.

If in doubt, take the details of the caller and ask them to ring back once you’ve had a chance to check with the council, by ringing the Council’s Research Team on 0116 305 7341.

David Bull, Head of Trading Standards, said: "I am very concerned about these calls, which may assist rogues to target vulnerable people or to assist in identity theft.

People should not give out or confirm personal details to callers that they don't know, especially if you are asked if you live alone.

If anyone has any concerns, they should contact the national Action Fraud reporting line on 0300 123 2040, or http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/report_fraud "