Norfolk Association of Local Councils have produced a useful guide for those of us who are feeling the pinch at this economically uncertain time. You can read it by clicking here.
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Are you worried about paying bills?
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Norfolk Association of Local Councils Wellbeing Newsletter – Help paying for Childcare
Tax-free childcare is a government scheme to help eligible working families save on their childcare costs. Eligible working parents and carers can open online childcare accounts – just like an online bank account – to pay registered childcare providers directly.
For every £8 paid into an account, the Government will add £2 (£4 for a disabled child), and the total amount in the account can only be spent on childcare. The maximum that can be paid into an account each year is £8,000 and the maximum that will be received from the Government is £2,000 (£4,000 for disabled children.)
Parents can open an individual account for each child they pay childcare for. For example, if you have three children, you can open three tax-free childcare accounts and deposit up to £8,000 into each.
Only a parent or carer can set up a tax-free childcare account, however money can be deposited into the account by parents, friends, family and employers.
For further information about this or other childcare support visit Childcare (link to external website).
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Support with Living Costs for Norfolk Residents
The Norfolk Association of Local Councils has drawn our attention to a number of schemes designed to help those in particular need during the current economic crisis, including the skyrocketing rise in the cost of living, fuel prices etc.
Details are in the attached link – Support with living costs for Norfolk residents (mailchi.mp) [link to external website]. If you know of anyone in Claxton who would qualify for any of this assistance, please let one of your Parish Councillors know. Their contact details are on the PARISH COUNCIL tab above then Who’s Who on the Council.
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UK Power Networks’ Preparation for Storms Dudley and Eunice
The following message is from UK Power Networks’ Public Affairs Manager:
I am writing regarding our preparations for Storms Dudley and Eunice, which will arrive consecutively in the UK from tomorrow (Wednesday 16th February).
As you may be aware, UK Power Networks manages the local power lines and substations which distribute electricity to over 8.3m homes and businesses across London, the South East and the East of England.
Storm Dudley will arrive tomorrow and is forecast to have a minimal impact on our network. However, Storm Eunice is expected to arrive on Friday 18th and is expected to bring stronger winds and unsettled weather.
Our electricity network is built to be resilient but strong winds and heavy rain can bring down branches and trees, damaging overhead power lines. Where this happens we work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.
We have organised for additional staff in our contact centre and more engineers on the ground, particularly for Storm Eunice, to be available to help customers whose electricity supply might be affected by the predicted weather.
Both you and your residents will be able to find regular updates and information about individual power cuts on our website www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk . We will also be posting general updates on @UKPowerNetworks.
Anyone experiencing a power cut should:
· Visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/powercut and type in their postcode to view our live power cut map, with details of individual power cuts
· Call 105 free of charge to speak to our customer service team, report a power cut or damage to the electricity network
· Tweet @UKPowerNetworks to report a power cut or to receive updates
· Visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk for the latest updates
We advise people to stay clear of power lines and report damaged power lines immediately by calling 105 free from either a landline or a mobile phone. If they see electricity lines that are down or causing significant risk to the public they should call 999.
We provide extra help to customers on our Priority Service Register during a power cut. Households with older or disabled people, those with children under five, or where someone uses medical or mobility equipment that requires electricity as well as other reasons can join the register. You can find out more information about our Priority Service on our website: ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority .
If you would like to share information with your constituents about preparing for the storm or registering for the Priority Service Register, you might like to share the following on Twitter or to your local Facebook pages.
As a result of #StormEunice, heavy rain and high winds are due to arrive on Fri 18th Feb. @UKPowerNetworks has extra field engineers and call centre staff on hand to support any customers affected. Call 105 to report a powercut or visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/powercut #ukpnnews
Do you, or someone you know, need extra support during a power cut? @UKPowerNetworks provides free services to customers in vulnerable circumstances during a power cut. Visit ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority for more information. #StormEunice #ukpnnews
If you have any questions, or if I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours faithfully,
Michael
Michael Horwood
Public Affairs Manager
UK Power Networks
Newington House
237 Southwark Bridge Road
London SE1 6NP
Email: [email protected] -
Shopping scam alert: how to shop safely
Your Site Manager is indebted to Which? magazine for the following advice to reduce the chances that you might be the victim of shopping fraud, particularly at this time of year.
During the January sales, shoppers are being urged to beware of online scams after Action Fraud revealed that £15.4m was stolen from almost 30,000 unsuspecting shoppers last Christmas.
Almost £2.5 million was stolen during the 2020 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales last year alone – an average loss of almost £550 per victim – and fraud experts expect reports of shopping scams to surge again. Here, we run down common scams to avoid and provide tips to keep you safe while you shop.
Goods that never turn up
Based on reports to Action Fraud during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, 23 November and 6 December 2020, the goods most associated with scams were:
- mobile phones (26%)
- electronics (17%), particularly consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation 5
- vehicles (10%)
- clothing and footwear (8%)
Victims paid for items on sites such as Facebook (18%), eBay (14%) and Gumtree (7%), only to have the items never arrive.
Copycat websites
Scammers can set up fake websites with ease. Some even buy do-it-yourself ‘phishing kits’ from criminal marketplaces to steal content and images directly from genuine sites.
Once the site is live, they send out mass spam emails or advertise online to target victims, sometimes planting fake reviews to appear legitimate.
Which? reported a fake ‘Little Tikes’ website in November 2020, after it had advertised on Facebook and charged one victim £102 for a climbing frame that never arrived. The website soon disappeared, taking his money with them. Popular footwear brands such as Clarks and Russell and Bromley are targeted repeatedly. As soon as one fake website is shut down by the authorities, another pops up to replace it.
If you purchase goods from these scam sites, they may send cheap knock-offs instead of the goods you paid for, such as fake designer sunglasses. Or they won’t even bother shipping inferior fakes – they’ll just take the money and run.
Fake celebrity endorsement
Take celebrity endorsements of goods with a pinch of salt. Which? has previously reported dodgy sites using famous faces such as Deborah Meaden from Dragons’ Den and Anne Hegerty from The Chase to make shoppers feel at ease, even on websites they’ve never used before.
One CBD supplement scam website also appeared to have positive reviews on Facebook, and the company was initially responsive, sending confirmation emails that included a link to track the ‘order’. But the shipping ‘tracking’ website was also a fake.
Gift card email scams
A common tactic used by scammers is to send emails using the names of legitimate businesses to trick you into visiting a phishing website.
Most scammers hope that you don’t look too closely at the actual email address – which will typically have nothing to do with the real company. But the slickest scammers can spoof domains too, as was the case with a recent ‘Just Eat gift card’ scam, which appeared to be from [email protected].
These emails promised free £50 Just Eat gift cards in the hope that victims would click the links to a phishing website set up to harvest valuable personal or banking information.
Fake delivery texts
Fake delivery text messages claiming to be from Royal Mail and other delivery companies such as DHL and Hermes are rife. These texts warn that a parcel can’t be delivered until a small fee is paid, linking to convincing copycat websites requesting payment details.
Three in five people have received a scam delivery text in the past year, and some victims are even hit by a second scam – where fraudsters impersonate their bank in an attempt to steal yet more money, as we reported here.
If you receive a suspicious text, forward it to 7726 – which spells out the word ‘SPAM’ on a keypad – so that your mobile phone operators can investigate it.
No such thing as a free Amazon package
If an unexpected Amazon package arrives in the post, don’t assume it’s from Santa – you could be a victim of a ‘brushing scam’. This is a marketing scam carried out by dodgy Amazon Marketplace sellers to artificially boost their sales volumes and product reviews.
They send mystery parcels containing goods that are cheap to ship in large volumes such as magnetic eyelashes, toys, Bluetooth accessories, iPhone cases, frisbees etc. They then falsely log these as genuine orders to artificially inflate sales figures volumes.
A recent Which? survey suggests that as many as 1.1 million households may have been targeted.
How to shop online safely
Action Fraud offers these tips to protect yourself online:
Choosing where you shop: If you are making a purchase from a website or person you don’t know and trust, carry out some research first. Look online for reviews of the website or person you are buying from. If you are purchasing an item from an online marketplace, you can view the seller’s feedback history before going ahead with the purchase.
Payment method: Use a payment method that offers buyer protection, such as a credit card if you have one, as most major credit card providers will help you get your money back if the item is faulty or damaged, or if it never arrives.
Staying secure online: Use a strong, separate password for your email account. Criminals can use your email to access other online accounts, such as those you use for online shopping. You should also enable two-factor authentication (2FA), where possible, which gives your online account additional protection by double checking that you really are the person you claim to be when logging in. For further information about how to stay secure online, visit www.cyberaware.gov.uk.
If you think you’ve paid money to a scammer, you should report this to your bank and Action Fraud. You may be able to claim back your money through the chargeback scheme if you used a debit card or use a section 75 claim if you paid by credit card and the value was more than £100.
You can also sign up to Which?’s free scam alert service at Scam Alerts | Which?, which e-mails weekly alerts to you.
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Introduction to Self-Management for Arthritis – East of England – FREE ONLINE EVENT
For anyone living with arthritis, there is a free Online Self-Management Event coming up this month for people in and around the East of England. It will be held at 14:00 on Thursday 25th November via zoom (online).
More information can be found by clicking here.
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Home Composter leaflet
The leaflet below has been produced in conjunction with Norfolk County Council and promotes the use of home composters and Bokashi bins to manage garden and food waste at home. The prices for each bin have been subsidised, the details of which are on the leaflet.
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Covid-19 Trusted sources of information
The most recent verified data on cases in the UK and Norfolk is available from Public Health England here and the Norfolk Insights website here.
Everyone has a key role in promoting www.nhs.uk/coronavirus and www.gov.uk/coronavirus as trusted sources of information to the public. It is important to ensure people go to the right sources of information and keep up to date with how to look after themselves.
Keep up to date: We have a dedicated webpage for coronavirus updates in Norfolk and impact on Norfolk County Council services. This is updated regularly so please do re-visit this page.
Service updates: The most up to date information on council services can be found at Norfolk County Council services disruptions. The council will continue to monitor its services and, if regulations and circumstances change, it will review its current plans.
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White goods scams
Your Site Manager takes 2-3 calls each week from organisations keen to extend the insurance cover on his white goods (washing machine, dryer, fridge-freezer etc). When he asks for details of the makes of these items, the caller invariably guesses wrongly, as this is clearly a form of scam trying to trick people into taking out worthless and unnecessary insurance policies.
The first question is ask is probably for them to tell you the make of your washing machine etc. In the unlikely event they get it right you have two choices. Put the phone down or let them talk. But whatever you do, the best advice (from your Site Manager) is not to tell them the make of any of your equipment, as next time they will get it right and may convince you to co-operate with them.
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Residents urged to be alert to courier fraud scam
Residents are being warned about a courier fraud scam operating in Norfolk by suspects claiming to be police officers.
In the last few weeks, police have seen a rise in incident where cold-callers will make efforts to defraud victims of money, often stating they need to withdraw large sums in connection with an investigation. (more…)
