The Stamp out Fraud in Derbyshire campaign runs from Monday, May 19 to Saturday, May 24 with a week of community engagements and online input. Police officers across the county, Derbyshire County Council’s Trading Standards and Derby City Council seek to raise awareness of scams.
Detective Inspector Rob King, Head of the Derbyshire Economic Crime Unit said: “This week of action is a fantastic opportunity for us to work alongside our partners across the county to increase public knowledge of the crime, offer support and advice and raise awareness of the campaign. Fraudsters can be convincing and appear genuine but thankfully there is lots of support and information available so that we can all take the steps to protect ourselves from the crime. The message is simple and clear, if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is.”
Commissioner Alan Charles added: “This initiative shows the power of partnership working, with different specialists pulling together to tackle crime. All too often this type of crime sees avaricious criminals preying on elderly or vulnerable victims and while I hope that this week provides them with information to protect themselves I really hope that it will raise awareness of the problem so that neighbours, families and friends be on the lookout for people behaving suspiciously.”
The week-long drive will see Community Safety officers and Safer Neighbourhood teams advise residents about the steps that they can take to protect themselves from the crime.
Awareness raising events include:
Bakewell Market on Monday 19th May between 10am and 12noon;
Buxton Spring Gardens on Tuesday 20th between 12noon and 2pm;
B&M Bargains in Belper on Tuesday 20th between 10am and 2pm;
Liberation Day in Swadlincote on Wednesday 21st between 10am and 2.30pm;
Shirebrook Christian Centre on Wednesday 21st;
Eagle Marketplace in Derby on Friday 23rd between 11am and 3pm;
Big Cycle Day out at Derby Marketplace on Saturday 24th, running all day.
In addition to these events, top cops will be in the hot seat at an online surgery, so that members of the public can ask questions and gain specialist advice on a range of fraud topics. The surgery will go live on Wednesday 21st May between 6pm and 8pm.
Visit the dedicated Stamp out Fraud page on the force website for the latest news, information videos and advice on how to avoid becoming a victim of the crime: www.derbyshire.police.uk/stampoutfraud.
