Avoiding scams

Clutter

High levels of clutter make it easier for fires to start and create a greater risk of fire spreading. Do you or someone you know have: • Possessions filling up living areas. • Strong urges to save things rather than discarding them. • Difficulty avoiding buying new things. • Cluttered rooms.

Visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk and search ‘clutter’. Alternatively, Care Network’s Community Navigators can signpost you to helpful resources. Call 01954 211919.

Help with odd jobs or finding a reliable trader

Asking your friends or family for recommendations is a good way of finding a reliable trader. If this doesn’t help you, Trading Standards’ approved trader scheme, Buy with Confidence, can help. All scheme members have been checked by Trading Standards and have demonstrated a commitment to high-quality service. Although Trading Standards checks each trader thoroughly before approving them, this does not give a price guarantee. You should still get three quotes to ensure you are being charged a reasonable price.

Visit www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk or call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.

Cambridgeshire Handyperson Service

Is a service run by Age UK Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to help with minor alterations, repairs, and DIY for people aged 65 and over and any adult with a disability. Charges may apply for some services.

Email: chp@ageukcap.org.uk Web: www.ageuk.org.uk/

cambridgeshireandpeterborough

Tel: 01480 700205

The Bobby Scheme

A registered charity supporting victims of crime who are older, vulnerable, or disabled and are either the victims of burglary, domestic abuse, or who are concerned about home and personal security. The charity gives expert advice on securing your home and staying safe. It can also help by installing high quality, effective devices around the home. Visit www.thebobbyscheme.org or call 01480 413311.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Against Scams Partnership (CAPASP) has some simple tips for dealing with unsolicited contact, to keep you safe from the financial and the emotional harm of scams.

Tips

• Do not trust callers or visitors just because they sound official, send legitimate looking paperwork, or have an ID card. Criminals are very clever at faking communications to appear genuine. Don’t be rushed by anyone asking you to send money or making you an offer that’s too good to be true. • Do not give money, personal, or banking details to anybody contacting you out of the blue.

Always verify that someone contacting you unexpectedly is who they say they are by contacting the organisation they claim to be from.

• Use a number you know to be correct – not one that the person has given you. • Do not deal with traders on the doorstep. • You can deter cold callers by displaying a

‘Please leave and do not return’ sign – these are available from the Cambridgeshire and

Peterborough Against Scams Partnership.