MP steps in to tackle malicious cold call ‘targeting’
Concerned residents in one neighbourhood fear they are being “targeted” by malicious cold callers.
MP for Dudley North Marco Longhi has stepped in to help those who feel targeted in Sedgley, and will be taking the issue to the council’s Trading Standards team. It comes after dozens of people reported they had been the victim of a scam phone call over the festive period.
Mr Longhi said he is worried elderly or vulnerable people may be taken advantage of. He said: “It seems like a lot of scam phone calls are going on at the moment, I suspect they might be coming from overseas. What I’m really worried about is older people or vulnerable people who may be taken advantage of.
“I’m going to speak to Trading Standards at Dudley Council and see what I can do to help.”
The issue was first raised on popular local Facebook page ‘Sedgley Past and Present’.
Resident Martin Jones said he felt like the area was being “targeted”.
He said: “I received a third scam call on my land line from a robotic voice claiming to be Amazon Prime, saying my subscription would be automatically renewed at a cost of £39.99 – telling me to press ‘one’ to speak to an Amazon manager to cancel the renewal.
“I did not press ‘one’ and after a few seconds it disconnected.”
He asked if anyone else had experienced similar issues and was inundated with dozens of replies from people saying they had suffered the same ordeal over Christmas.
Councillor Nicolas Barlow, cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: “I would like to reassure residents in Sedgley that we haven’t seen an increase in the number of scams reported in the area over the Christmas and New Year period but if they are concerned get in touch with the scams unit on 01384 818871.”
