Fraud Alert
Beware of criminals, fraudsters & scam artists!
Mobile phones, IT equipment and other consumer electronics are highly desirable items. This means that they are a target for criminals, fraudsters and scam artists.
As a consumer you are a target for fraudsters who use false details to obtain payment for goods which are never supplied. Once the fraudsters have your money they quickly disappear and are very difficult for the police to trace. Tell-tale signs to watch out for are:
- Goods advertised at prices which are 'too good to be true'. Remember if it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is!
- Adverts (often badly written) posted on chat rooms and online forums, discussion groups etc which consist of long lists of products at 'bargain' prices.
- Products advertised which have not yet been launched by the manufacturer (if you can't yet buy it from one of the well known high street chains, it's pretty unlikely that a small internet based reseller will have it in stock)
- Advertisers who hide behind hotmail, gmail, msn, yahoo, etc e-mail addresses.
- Advertisers who use phone numbers beginning 0702, 0703 or 0704. (These numbers look like UK mobile numbers, but are in fact provided by call forwarding services which can be used to forward your call anywhere in the world.)
- People who ask you to make payment by Western Union, MoneyGram or other untraceable instant money transfer services.
If you are a victim of this type of crime you should report it to your local police station. Unfortunately you are unlikely to get your money back.
Telecoms Bridgend is a business-to-business
supplier, operating only in the UK (primarily in the South
Wales
area). We don't advertise products directly for sale on the internet.
As suppliers we are also the target of criminal activity.
Typically
the types of scam we encounter are people trying to get us to supply
them with goods and services that they have no intention of paying for.
The ways in which the fraudsters attempt to do this are too numerous to
list here. In order to minimise these risks we only deal face-to-face
with new customers and don't accept orders by e-mail or telephone from
people we don't know. To further reduce the risk of fraud, we may ask
to see proof of address and proof of identity prior to
supplying
any goods or services.