The sales people come to the door and are particularly targeting the elderly. They are often selling electronic devices which they claim are capable of telling people what their biological age is. This is supposed to be a way of telling how healthy you are in relation to your age, rather than how long you have actually been alive.

A spokesperson from trading standards has commented, “We are urging all people in the area to be very cautious about this scam. If anyone comes to your door offering an electronic device, you should be very careful and remember to not be pressured into a sale.

You should also not by any dietary supplements or health monitoring equipment from a door-to-door salesman. Remember that these salespeople are not medically qualified and are not what you should be seeking medical advice.”

A representative for the NHS in the area, Dr Frances Campbell has commented, “There is no way that a medical professional would turn up at your house like this just out of the blue. Do not believe them if they tell you that they are medically qualified, it is almost certainly not true.

You should not be taking advice from these people with regard to your health and if you do have any concerns you should talk to your doctor, your pharmacist or call the NHS. I would strongly advise people to hold onto their money and not fall into the trap of these salespeople, who are nothing more than conmen with a scheme targeted at the vulnerable.”

Police officers have urged people to be wary about people calling their homes and offering these devices. People should be aware that they don’t actually save any electricity at all and can actually pose a risk to their safety.

This matter has come to light after the local council have received numerous complaints about people being ripped off by the devices. They retail for around £100 and the person on the telephone claims that they can cut your electricity bills by around 40 percent.

The caller adds legitimacy to their sales pitch by apparently knowing the electricity provider of the consumer. They also often know the names of the people and sometimes even have their credit card details.

Information about the company’s is thin on the ground and it appears that most of them involved in the scam do have some sort of address in London. However, on further investigation it appears that the companies are based outside of the country with some being based in India, and others in the United States.

This is not the only scam that has been circulating around the country and people have also been conned into buying vouchers which are worthless under the impression that they will be entitled to compensation once they have bought them. A representative from the local council has commented, “These practices are completely unacceptable and they are targeting susceptible people in our community which is not just bad business, but is morally wrong.”

The trading standards department of Dorset County Council have been urging customers to be careful of anyone trying to sell the bogus device. The devices are said to be a fire risk and do not save energy. The plug-in device is being offered at £99 from people who claim to work with their energy supplier.

DCC trading standards service manager, Ivan Hancock, is reported to have said the callers appear credible, and are knowledgeable of the consumer’s energy supplier, and also some of their financial details, including debit and credit card details. He went on to say that the scam seems to be operating from outside the UK and targets older people, who are more likely to be attracted to lowering their energy costs.

Five of the bogus companies have been named so far: Athico Ltd; 1 Stop Marketing Solutions, ITC Development Corp, Power Saver and Sorbet. These companies use accommodation addresses in London, but appear to be India or US based, Mr Hancock went on to say. The devices all appear to have been posted in the UK, but from several different post offices.

Several previous victims of this scam have also been contacted by a bogus claims management company. The victims are then offered their ‘compensation’ cheque of between £2,000 and £3,000 in return for the victim purchasing a voucher for up to £300, when the voucher number is called in, the cheque is supposed to be sent out.

Victims of this scam can get help from Action Fraud on their website, or by telephoning Citizens Advice consumer service. They will be able to stop any debit/credit card payments by contacting their bank. People who have received a device have been urged to dispose of it responsibly.

Yet, whilst the internet has offered us a number of benefits and useful services, not everything has such honest intentions. In fact, the internet is under invasion from numerous sources and we are the victims who are likely to get caught in the crossfire.

Whether it is a virus attached to a seemingly innocent email or a Trojan Horse which muscles its way onto our system, online threats are a serious problem for web users. So, what threats do you need protecting from and how can you make sure that you stay safe online?

Online threats

The most prolific online threats are worms, viruses and Trojan Horses. All of these are designed to cause disruption to our systems and spread to other users, extending their harmful effects. These threats can also allow other users to gain access to our files or information and this means that acts such as identity fraud could be committed – leaving us with a number of problems to deal with.

Online protection

Thankfully, anti virus software and internet security packages are available from a range of different firms in order to protect users from the harmful effects of these malicious programmes. There is a wide selection of systems available, all of which will offer different protective features.

Anti Virus: one of the main types of security which can be offered on the internet, antivirus software is often your first line of defence against online threats. Make sure this is always turned on when you are connected to the internet and ensure your system is set up to receive regular updates and upgrades so that your computer is able to protect itself from the latest threats.

Firewall: another important system, this is a great way of defending your computer from malicious worms. Once again, this should always be turned on and you should consider setting up a regular scan of your computer in order to remove any potentially harmful programmes as well.

Parental Controls: a feature which is growing in popularity, parental controls are now available with most internet security packages. These allow parents to block certain websites or restrict the internet access of other users. This can prevent younger internet users from unwittingly opening online threats, thus protecting your children, yourself and your computers.

Choosing online security

When choosing the online security package for your home or business, it is always advisable for you to use reputable firms, such as Kaspersky. These will offer a high quality service at a reasonable price – offering you the best online protection available without charging you a fortune.

If you are cautious about investing in the service without testing it first then remember that you can opt to use free antivirus downloads to gauge the effectiveness of the service. These typically offer protection for one month, or thirty days, and allow you to evaluate the security before committing to purchasing an annual subscription.

Many Residents are reported to have paid £500 to the Birmingham registered company. The company was actually based near Redditch town centre, in Albert Street. The solar panels were never installed and residents are understandably upset.

The company became non-contactable, amidst fears that the money would never be recovered, and in December 2011 they stopped trading. The company assets will now be divided amongst those owed money, through the process of liquidation, however there is no guarantee that residents will get all their money back. The final amount available will be announced at the meeting.

Gordon Keogh has been campaigning for the residents who lost out. He has been waiting for over a year to reclaim his own money and believes there are almost 800 people out there in a similar situation to him.

Mr Keogh is reported to have said he will go to court if necessary but it would be easier and quicker to settle before it comes to that. Many people gave their life savings to get the solar panels and fear they will never see the money again. Richard Askew, also owed money from the scheme, said he was pleased that something was being done, and hoped that there was enough money to reimburse the victims.

.In the ten months leading up to April 2007, the Shettleston and Tollcross Credit union gave preferential rates on loans given to seven directors. Directors have agreed to repay the money after the Credit Union realised its mistake and withdrew the rates.

A number of loans were made to a new trust managing a day-care centre and a post office, by Pollock Credit Union from April ’08 to August ’11. The FSA’s head of retail enforcement, Tom Spender, is reported to have said that in these cases it was better to impose a public censure, however in more serious events a fine may have been imposed as the Credit Unions are not immune to the rules.

He went on to say that Credit Unions were supposed to protect their members and if they were to put their interests at risk, further action would be taken. It is usual for Credit Unions to charge a small fee to join, and then before any loan can be taken the member is expected to save for at least 3 months. Any loan given will then be savings related.

Complaints are being closely watched by financial analysts, so that they may assess the possible final total. Loan insurance is reported to have been miss-sold to millions of clients. The increase in claims is partly due to the huge marketing campaigns led by claims management companies. These companies take a large fee from their clients for handling the paperwork

Policies of this nature were usually taken out with personal loans or mortgages. The idea behind them being that if clients were made unemployed or had prolonged periods of sickness the loan fee would be covered. However, people who were out of work, or worked for themselves, have been sold the policy which would be void,

Since the beginning of 2011, £2.5billion has been paid out. The financial regulator recently produced data showing that lenders paid out almost £405 million in January, in December payouts were particularly high.

The provision set aside by The Royal Bank of Scotland stands at almost £1000 million. Reuters recently learned from a source that the level of provision is set to rise next week, when a first quarter update is given. Finance Director of RBS, Bruce Van Saun, claimed in February that he was confident the cover was adequate, claiming that it had been rigorously reviewed at the end of last year.

Lloyds Banking Group has a provision of £3.2 billion, the largest in the country. In February, HSBC raised provision from £270 million to £400 million. On Thursday Santander’s provision remained the same at £550million, however this is being closely monitored, a spokesman claimed.

The people operating the scam phone people’s homes and pressure them into buying the device. One elderly customer said that she was kept on the telephone for an hour by the company before she eventually bought the device. At one point she said she hung up on the company but they telephoned her back in order to continue to pressure her to buy the device.

The device retails for around £100 and there is an instruction manual that comes in English that is clearly been written by someone who speaks it as a second language. The company who produce the device claim to have an address in New York, but the legitimacy of this is not known.

It is estimated that there are currently 200 complaints lodged with Trading Standards about the selling of the device, often these are related to the company stating that they are affiliated with the customer’s energy supplier, when this is simply not the case. Those selling the device tell customers that it is capable of saving them around 40 percent off their electrical bills, which is nothing but a lie.

Several devices have been tested by officials and they have stated that the device does not offer any energy savings, and it is also unsafe and does not meet the country’s electrical safety standards. Customers who have purchased this device are encouraged to contact their bank immediately in order to cancel payments, or pursue a chargeback through their credit card supplier.

The OFT have also stated that these companies are not allowed to offer their staff financial incentives for selling people debt management solutions. The OFT have said that they are not allowing this kind of incentive for staff because it can lead to them miss-selling solutions or offering customers advice that is not suited to them.

These rules have been issued after the regulator completed a study in 2010 which showed that there were serious concerns about marketing and advertising in the sector. These were mostly about the kind of advice that was being offered as it was not always deemed appropriate for a customer. The companies have been warned that if they continue with these practices then they are going to risk losing their licences to deal with credit issues.

These organisations have also been told that if the customer needs advice they are to give them the option of being forwarded to a non-profit advice centre. They have said that there should be much more transparency in the industry in order to reduce the number of complaints that have been made against the sector. Last year the number of complaints being made rose by around 20 percent and of all the complaints over 50 percent were found to be in favour of the customer.

The director of the relevant sector of OFT has stated, “We have set out important new standards for these businesses to follow. It will help customers who could be potentially exploited by these companies and encourage better practice in the industry.”

Information about the number of fires from such devices was obtained through Freedom of Information requests that were made to fire services by the consumer group. These released figures from 2010 and 2011 which showed that there were 6000 fires cause by appliances.

The study also revealed some interesting figures for consumers about which devices were most likely to catch fire. Most people usually associate fires with the most obvious appliances, such as an oven or toaster, but in reality many household appliances can catch fire, including washing machines and dishwashers. In one case a dishwasher fire caused around £90,000 worth of damage to a single home.

Currently some fire brigades collect information about what brands the device which caught fire was, but there is not yet enough information to come to a conclusion about which devices are most likely to have electrical faults which cause fires.

The Chief Executive of the consumer group is Richard Lloyd and he has commented, “We want the government to take this sort of information and analyse it better so that people are aware of which appliances are most likely to cause a house fire.

“We want this information to be available on a by-brand basis, which will inform consumers about which products are most likely to damage their homes, this will allow consumers to make a more informed choice when purchasing household appliances as they will know which brands carry the highest risk.”