Trading Standards warn of new scam hitting town

Trading Standards Manager Ian Harrison said: "We have spoken to local mobile phone shops following a number of incidents where consumers have apparently been called out of the blue by their phone provider and offered mobile phone upgrades.

“Once the offer is accepted, a new phone arrives as promised but is quickly followed by a call advising that the wrong phone has been delivered and that it needs to be returned to a specific address.

“In reality, both calls are from scammers and the new phone ends up in the scammers’ hands.

“It would appear that to do this, the scammer has been able to obtain sufficient information about a consumer to be able to convince their mobile phone provider that they want an upgraded phone.

“The phone company, believing this to be a genuine request for an upgrade, sends out the new phone as requested to the consumer’s address.

“When the phone is delivered, the scammer contacts the consumer immediately, once again pretending to be the phone company, apologising that the wrong phone has been sent and asking for it to be returned to a new address – which they provide.

“If the consumer believes this, they then, unwittingly, forward the brand new phone to the scammer who obviously keeps it and disappears. The consumer is then left with a new, much bigger, monthly phone bill for a phone that they no longer have.

“This type of scam could apply to a whole range of expensive products and I would urge consumers to be very wary if they are asked to return goods that have been delivered to them.

“If this happens, they should make a new phone call to the company that sent the goods to verify the return is genuine. If it is too late, and the goods have already been forwarded to a new address, they should contact the sender immediately.”

If anyone believes they may have been scammed in this way they should contact 0300 123 2040.