A Crime Alert for the residents of South Sefton from Merseyside Police.
Burglaries
Since the 25th January burglaries have taken place in the following locations;
BOOTLE Smollett Street, Catherines Road, Gray Street, Hertford Road (2sheds)
CROSBY Brownmoor Lane, Lancaster Avenue, Caithness Drive, St Michaels Road
LITHERLAND Hinton Street, Silverdale Drive
THORNTON Hartdale Road
WATERLOO Bath Street, Worcester Avenue
Car keys and vehicles stolen 4
Garden tools used to gain entry 2
Insecure 3
Computer Scams
Two Sefton residents had problems with their computers and contacted their respective Servers. Both were given help to correct the faults they were experiencing. The following day they both received a phone call supposedly from their individual Servers. The callers stated they knew the residents had experienced problems and they were told the fault was with their computers not with the Server, both were asked to turn on their computers so the problem could be rectified.
The first resident reported that they took over her computer and after various charts appeared on the screen, she was told her that the problem was solved and there would be a charge and asked her to pay on line .She told them she did not have an account on line. The caller replied that as she paid the Server by direct debit he would set up a Pay Pall account for her which he did. She lost £1,800.
The second resident after following the caller’s instructions, saw his screen go black and a message appeared saying that he would receive £200 compensation and they were arranging for an engineer to visit him to change his Tivo box which they said was faulty. As he had no on line account they asked for details of his address so the money could be sent, but they couldn’t pay him by cheque. The recipient of the call became suspicious and after a call that lasted nearly 1 hour he ended the call.
Both residents contacted their respective Servers and were told they had received scam calls. Please be warned if you call your Server with a problem, be on the alert if in the following days you receive phone calls supposedly from your Server.
News from your Local Community Policing Team
Bogus workmen are targeting elderly and vulnerable persons in the Crosby area. They are stating that work needs doing especially in the roof and chimney areas of the property. They are taking the cash from the residents but not completing any work. There have been 3 reports in the last week.