Scam Watch

Residents who attended our last update meeting will recall a local resident reported a possible scam phone call she received from someone claiming to be from the “National Mortgage Compensation Scheme”.

Even if there was such a scheme, the Government would not normally cold call residents and ask for their details.

It serves as a reminder to always be wary of any unexpected phone calls, particularly if they try to obtain your personal information (after all, if they really were calling from a government department they would probably already have your information in their records).

The same applies for phone calls and emails purporting to come from credit card companies and banks asking you to provide information so they can “verify” your details.

Information about common scams is available on the Office of Fair Trading website or the Australian Government’s Scamwatch website.

If you think you’ve spotted a scam, you can let the Office of Fair Trading know about it by clicking here and completing their online form.

Your report can help put a stop to the scam and stop others from being caught out.

If you have been the victim of a scam, you can make a formal complaint to the Office of Fair Trading by clicking here.

Crime trends and prevention - news from our last update

If you missed our NHW Update meeting on Thursday night, you missed out on hearing our guest speaker Sen. Const. Donna Burley talk about crime trends and crime prevention.

She advised that unfortunately our NHW area had 2 cases of wilful damage in February and 2 break and enters in March, although nothing has been reported for April.

Regarding wilful damage, there seems to have been a spate of cars being scratched by objects such as keys or coins etc.

Across the district, there is a trend of break and enters happening when people are actually at home, and we are aware of at least one such incident in our NHW area recently. It can happen day or night.

During the day, they can sneak in an open door while you are out in the garden, doing the mowing or hanging out the laundry etc. Donna recommended locking the door when you go out in the yard, especially when no one else is home. She suggested carrying the keys with you on a lanyard.

There has also been a number of entrances through higher balconies and second story windows, which are often left unlocked. It is important to keep these secure, even if they appear too high for people to enter.

Car registration plates are being stolen and often used in petrol drive-offs. Carseldine Police Station can replace your rego plate screws with “one-way” screws that can only be removed with a special tool.

Since modern cars can now only be started with the keys, car keys are being stolen from inside homes and used to take the car. Donna recommended always keeping the car keys hidden out of sight.

Donna also asked if people could report to Policelink (131 444) if you see people lurking around or going in and out of yards. The police can take these people’s details and this information is often useful in apprehending offenders if a break-in is later reported in the area.

Donna also assigned “homework” to those residents who were there, handing out a Home Security Audit to complete, allowing us to access our level of home security. If anyone completes this and finds they have a lot of areas where their security is lacking, Donna is happy to come out to your home and provide advice on making your home more secure.

If you missed out on this sheet and would like a copy, please email us at carseldine6NHW@gmail.com and we can send you a copy.

Donna also handed out a number of brochures including a very handy Property Identification sheet explaining how to keep an inventory of your property to assist police in recovering stolen items or to help with insurance claims and how you can mark your property to assist police to identify ownership of recovered items.

“No Door to Door” stickers were also handed out.

In response to a resident explaining about a scam they had recently experienced, Donna advised that she can also supply a “Little Black Book of Scams” explaining what to watch out for.

Residents who missed out on any of these and would like to obtain them can contact Donna at Carseldine Police Station.

If you missed our update meeting, we hope you can come along to the next one which will be on the 1^st of August. This will also be our AGM.