Residents are warned to be aware of the latest telephone scam that has occurred in South Warwickshire over the last few days. The scammers are getting very clever and sound very plausible. It’s really important not to fall for their trickery.

The latest scam involves a person who calls the householder about their water bill. A very convincing person who gives a Christian name rings saying they are from Severn Trent and they state the signature on the water bill direct debit is out of date. They say they will be sending out a new DD to sign but in the meantime they ask the householder if they could pay the “January arrears of £19” or a similar small sum as it had been declined by the bank.

The scam is to get the householders to give out their bank details. If householders do give out bank details they are likely to have their bank account cleaned out. In addition, if persons provide their bank details to a third party, even if it is a criminal, the bank is highly unlikely to reimburse the householder of any loss from their bank account,

The key message is:

• NEVER give your bank details to anyone, however plausible they or the circumstances might seem.

 

• Banks, Building Societies, water, gas, electric companies DO NOT ring customers and ask for bank details – so if you get such a call just put the phone down and stop the call.

 

• BE AWARE that if you do provide your bank details to another person then your bank is unlikely to replace any money stolen from your accounts.

 

• VULNERABLE or elderly persons can be especially at risk from this type of crime, if you look after a person who lives in their own or who maybe in one of these groups then please make sure they know to say nothing, just put the phone down and stop the call.

Kenilworth Watch commends the Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT’s) at both Kenilworth & Warwick who were busy throughout January carrying out the policing priorities set by the local community. In addition both SNT’s also focused some of their attention on the National Police Chief”s Council “Crackdown on Speeding” camp[aign.

Across the month of  January the two SNT’s between them checked some 2800 vehicles for speed at 78 separate speed check locations. 

• 193 drivers received a roadside warning about their speed
• 39 drivers were reported to the Police Traffic Section for further action
• 1 driver was arrested for providing a positive breath test (Drink/Drugs) 

Nationally, in 2017 inappropriate speed contributed to around: 

• 11% of all injury collisions reported to the police*, 
• 15% of crashes resulting in a serious injury* 
• 24% of collisions that result in a death*. 

This includes both ‘excessive speed’,when the speed limit is exceeded but also driving or riding within the speed limit when this is too fast for the conditions at the time (for example, in poor weather, poor visibility or high pedestrian activity).

Nationally, in 2015, a total of 217 people were killed in crashes involving someone exceeding the speed limit and a further 132 people died when someone was travelling too fast for the conditions.

Drivers and riders who are travelling at inappropriate speeds are more likely to crash and their higher speed means that the crash will cause more severe injuries, to themselves and/or to other road users.

Inappropriate speed also magnifies other driver errors, such as driving too close or driving when tired or distracted, multiplying the chances of these types of driving causing an accident.

The primary role of the police service is to protect life and property.

* – Source: ROSPA

BURGLARY 

Please be aware that between 1100hrs and 2015hrs on Sunday 2 February 2020 offenders have broken into the rear of a property at Thornby Avenue, Kenilworth. Once inside the offenders stole a quantity of cash and also items of jewellery.

This is incident 405 of 2 February 2020

PEDAL CYCLE THEFT

Please be aware that between 0700hrs and 1745hrs on Sunday 2 February 2020 offender/s have stolen a pedal cycle that was padlocked to a pole outside a property inFinham Road, Kenilworth. 

The bike stolen is a black Carrera mountain bike with 24 gears.

This is incident 359 of 2 February 2020

If you think you may have seen or heard anything suspicious or have any information about either of these incidents the please contact Warwickshire Police on 101 or alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111  

IN LESS THAN A MONTH from being launched Kenilworth’s new CCTV registration scheme has attracted over 50 residents to sign up. The scheme enables the local community and Warwickshire Police’s Safer Neighbourhood Team for Kenilworth to work closer together and potentially save hours and hours of police officers time.

A spokesperson for Kenilworth Watch said “We are absolutely delighted that so many people in Kenilworth have already signed up to this innovative and great scheme and we’d like to thank them. The more people and addresses that have CCTV that sign up the better because it can really help our policing team concentrate their time and resources.”

The register was designed by and has been in operation at nearby Finham Neighbourhood Watch in Coventry for some time and Finham NHW kindly offered to provide a system for Kenilworth.

The system does not request or have access to any CCTV systems, it’s simply a register that aids efficiency.  “The greater the coverage we can get by getting as many people signed up as possible, the more efficient our police officers can be in locating potentially useful CCTV images. We also believe that if we can achieve widespread coverage with a well populated CCTV register then it will also act as a real deterrent to criminal visiting our town and neighbourhoods” a Kenilworth Watch spokesperson added.

If you have CCTV and would like to resister or you want more details all the links needed can be found here:

How you can help deliver a step change in crime prevention and detection in Kenilworth

Please be aware that between 19.00hrs and 22.30hrs on Saturday 1 February 2020 offender/s have removed a panel from an outer door on a garage at a property on John O Gaunt Road, Kenilworth. Having accessed the garage the offender/s have then broken through a door from the garage into the main part of the property. Once inside the offender/s have made an untidy search and stolen a purse, a quantity of cash and some items of jewellery.

This is incident 463 of 1 February 2020

If you think you may have seen or heard anything suspicious or have any information about this incident then please contact Warwickshire Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111