FIRST: As a Rural Crime SPOC, I receive rural crime reports from across the whole Thames Valley. Lead thefts are still taking place from Churches, so it you are involved with community buildings / churches, any building with large amounts of read on roofs and porches – more protection needs to be taken at this time.
LEAD THEFT:
Approximately 10 tonnes of lead was stolen from the roof of St Albans Church in Frant, between the 12th and 13th June, with estimated costs of at least £30k to repair the damage.
There is now further concern about the remaining lead on the rest of the aisle roof, which may be targeted in the coming weeks. Given the ongoing concern around this church, there will be further SmartWater deployed here in the coming days, to provide extra security.
In addition, in the week prior to this incident, there was a further theft of lead from a nearby church: 07/06/2022—St Mary the Virgin Church, Chiddingstone TN8 7AH, where lead was stolen from the roof.
PLEASE ALSO BE AWARE – The cost of the lead replacement, may only be a small part of the repair costs involved. In one recent case, while stealing the lead, the thieves almost destroyed a church roof and the subsequent rain and water damage, was right though the building and the costs to repair that and the roof superstructure lot of which was not covered by Insurance
NEXT: YET ……….. ANOTHER SEXTORTION !
A young man was contacted by an attractive young woman on Instagram and they then after chatting moved to Snapchat. Shortly thereafter they started to share images and videos of intimate acts. Immediately he received a demand for money - £1,000, or the video would be sent to everyone in the victim’s personal contact list. She started immediately to transfer all his contacts into her Instagram account in case he blocked her.
He has now blocked her and reported it to Instagram and the police. The images have been sent to three of his contacts !
ONCE AGAIN – PLEASE DO NOT SAY, WRITE, DO, PHOTOGRAPH, VIDEO, TEXT ANYTHING ON LINE, YOU WOULD NOT BE HAPPY FOR YOUR FAMILY, RELATIVES, FRIENDS, NEIGHBOURS, CO-WORKERS - BOSS TO SEE !
PLEASE PASS THIS ONTO TO ANY YOUNGISH PERSON YOU KNOW – BUT – THIS DOES NOT ONLY AFFECT YOUNG PEOPLE !
CRIME
I have attached reference numbers to each crime report. If you live in the vicinity of any of the crimes mentioned and have CCTV or a video doorbell, can you please check the footage. If you have any that might be of interest to the police, can you please make contact with us, quoting reference number given.
Alternatively you can call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or email -
www.crimestoppers-uk.orgMAIDENHEAD CENTRAL:
maidenheadcentralgeographical@thamesvalley.police.ukNO CRIME TO REPORT.
RIVERSIDE & BELMONT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT.
MAIDENHEAD WEST
maidenheadwestgeographical@thamesvalley.police.ukBISHAM, COOKHAM, HURLEY, THE WALTHAMS, LITTLEWICK GREEN & KNOWL HILL:
12/7 – 13/7 Tuesday 11 p.m. / Wednesday 6.30 a.m. Bradenham Lane, Bisham. Car index plates stolen. Ref. No: 43220308508
PINKNEYS GREEN & FURZE PLATT:
9/7 Saturday 12.48 a.m. Alwyn Road. Report form homeowner that their video doorbell picked up footage of someone running up their drive, stopping and calling out to someone else – ‘They have a video doorbell’ and making off. Does anyone else in the area have anything similar or any footage of suspicious activity ? Ref. No: 43220308434
MAIDENHEAD SOUTH
maidenheadsouthgeographical@thamesvalley.police.ukBOYN HILL, COX GREEN & WOODLANDS PARK
30/6 – 11/7 Rixman Close. Car index plates stolen. Ref. No: 43220305658
OLDFIELD, BRAY & HOLYPORT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT.
MEMBERS’ COMMENTS:
Hello Jeff
This was a very believable credit card fraud attempt, which I haven’t heard of before, so it may be worthwhile sharing it with others.
Earlier today, I got a call on my mobile, from someone claiming to be from my credit card company, (they quoted my name and address) saying that an unusual amount (£750) was being spent online In Liverpool and if it was me they could approve it. Of course I said it wasn’t me and I was obviously concerned.
I was then involved in a lengthy security conversation. They needed to ‘run’ the card through their safety level checks ….. when I last used it….. did I have a computer with online banking to check transactions ……. and several other very convincing questions, including that the mentioned spend, could be a fraudulent use of my card !
At that point, she asked me to confirm the 3 SECURITY NUMBERS on the back of the card ! This would obviously have given them access and enable fraudulent online use immediately !
Ever mindful of your advice of not disclosing such information and I declined to do so.
I was then told (very helpfully?) - that I should now ring the fraud department of the card provider.
I used another line to phone the security number on the back of my card, to confirm whether or not the call I had received, was genuine.
IT WAS NOT ! There was no record of any earlier call or any attempted exspenditure as described.
They said a bank / financial organisation, will never ask for this security detail ina phone call
.
The initial ‘fraudulent’ call had been so credible though. They were thorough and very convincing.
Of course, my card and account has now been blocked and a new card will be issued.
I feel I have had a lucky escape, all due to your warnings and experiences shared by others oh your alerts.
Many thanks, and I hope this serves as a warning to others.
However, I am puzzled as to how they knew my name etc, and as I had used the card the previous day in a local restaurant, might there be a link
Kind Regards
Christine
Thanks you Christine – as we always say – do not give any personal information over the phone. When you answer the phone you do not give your name / telephone number. YOU ONLY SAY ‘HELLO’ - NOTHING ELSE. Then listen to whoever is calling. If you did not initiate the call back, or they start to ask questions – JUST PUT THE RECEIVER DOWN. If they said it was your bank, use another phone, to call their security with the number on the back of your card and ask if it was them – and then sort out any issues if it was.
NEXT: from Bruce:
Hi Jeff,
Possible Scam: We received in the mail a demand for £100 from a company calling themselves "Civil Enforcement" with a claim that one of our cars was illegally parked at ‘Dragonfly Hotel Bury St Edmunds’. A place we have never ever been to, or know how to get to, without getting a map out. They quote an address in Liverpool.
I have disputed the claim on their appeal page and have no intention of paying any money, as the car in question is used only for local journeys in the Windsor area.
Bruce
This is an old scam – just throw the letter in the bin. They just hope for a 1 or 2 % response rate !
NEXT: From Roy:
Hi Jeffrey
Two scams on the phone today. One was ‘I am your local energy efficiency officer and should inspect your attic insulation’. The other was ‘This is the Inland Revenue”
Neither received a response !
Regards
Roy
