Through partners Big Local has been providing scams/fraud avoidance advice to try and keep people safe.
When? 2018 started Trusted Traders, then 2020-2025 for scams/fraud awareness
Partners: VANEL. Trading Standards. Neighbourhood Watch Network. Police. AGE UK Cleethorpes. We Are Fish. Sidney Sussex Pavilion. Fraudwatch. Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner. Humberwatch. Fraudwatch
Scams are one of the most common crimes. By some estimates 40% of crime involves scams. So anyone can be affected and the problem is only getting worse.
Older people can be more affected, but really anyone can be caught out, so Big Local North Cleethorpes has been keen to advise residents on how to avoid scams for many years. One of the thematic areas for Big Local North Cleethorpes since 2013 has been around community safety, and this has always included advice on scams and fraud awareness. However, over more recent years the risk from scams has risen steadily and Big Local has increased our support for tackling this critical issue too.
Trading Standards Partnership
Around 2019 VANEL was working in partnership with North East Lincolnshire Trading Standards to provide advise and information to locally identified victims of crime. In a further partnership with Big Local North Cleethorpes VANEL and Trading Standards identified North Cleethorpes victims of crime and visited properties to ensure advice was provided to residents on staying safe from scams.
Covid interrupted this effort, but we shifted a focus to dealing with doorstep scams.
Trusted Traders and Doorstep Scams
Again, working with VANEL and Trading Standards, we started investigating a scheme to help residents in North Cleethorpes understand who they were dealing with when engaging with trades/professions who might work on their homes or call at the door.
As well as sharing simple good practice and advice, VANEL and Big Local started building a scheme for local traders to be registered so that residents could select traders from a pre-vetted list (so that they didn’t deal with someone who just knocked at the door).
Unfortunately this scheme was taking too much resource to administer and was encountering the same difficulties that Trading Standards own version of the scheme was finding – too few tradespeople and not enough connection to residents. So after a year or so of this approach Big Local decided to refocus our efforts.
However, Big Local continued to provide advice on dealing with tradespeople and doorstep callers on an ongoing basis.
Identity Theft and Shredders
An advice scheme about avoiding identity theft resulted in Big Local North Cleethorpes funding new community shredders at 82 Grimsby Road and Age UK Cleethorpes and working with VANEL to re-promote the scheme across NEL that also included another community shredder at Sidney Sussex Pavilion.
Read about the community shredder programme here.
Scams talks
VANEL has long provided scams/fraud awareness talks (often funded through FraudWatch). So Big Local North Cleethorpes worked with VANEL to host scams talks at the 82 Grimsby Road community hub and to sponsor other local opportunities to talk about scams.
Since 2020 there have been around 8 scams talks directly to groups in venues in North Cleethorpes and another 9 sessions held in nearby venues. 100s of local people have been advised how to avoid scams.
Karl Elliott as Big Local North Cleethorpes Development Worker and VANEL employee was qualified as a Cyberhood Watch Ambassador; FraudWatch trainer and Friends Against Scams Champion and was well placed to work with groups, often alongside local Police, to advise and support the community.
Big Local North Cleethorpes team have attended Older Peoples Advice Day events in Cleethorpes Memorial hall for many years – providing advice on scams avoidance each time.
At 82 Grimsby Road we maintain a supply of scams/fraud leaflets and information and copies of the “Little Book of Big Scams” so that visitors can be advised on scams.
Stay Safe Guides
Since the first Stay Safe guides were created in Cleethorpes via Big Local North Cleethorpes and VANEL, they have included comprehensive advice on scams avoidance. Each Stay Safe edition since then includes scams advice.
Read more about the Stay Safe guides here.
Community Safety
Big Local North Cleethorpes has supported Community Safety drop-ins with the Police at 82 Grimsby Road (originally 2021-2022 and then restarted late in 2024). Scams advice is always available at these drop-ins.
In 2024 a first Community Safety event was held at Sidney Sussex Pavilion with partners including Big Local, VANEL, Police and Trading Standards where scams advice was made available. The event is likely to continue into 2025 with local ward councillor funding.
Ongoing support
Scams are fraud. Fraud is a crime. And these crimes create victims. Big Local North Cleethorpes has wanted to ensure that we keep our local residents safe from these sorts of crime that can reach anyone and make a victim of anyone.
Through our ongoing efforts we’ve connected to hundreds of local residents – especially older people – and have tried to help them be better prepared to avoid scams. Even after the end of the Big Local programme, the Stay Safe guides remain in circulation; the network of community shredders continue to be available; scam advice materials remain accessible through the community hub and other local venues; and our partner VANEL continues to provide scams advice and talks through Fraudwatch funding into 2025 and beyond.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Visit www.nelwatch.org.uk for local information on scams
VANEL provides scams and fraud awareness support
Fraudwatch is a Humber wide programme tackling scams
Friends Against Scams is a national approach from Trading Standards to help people tackle scams