'£3,000 per month' scam (From Witney Gazette)

'£3,000 per month' scam

9:00am Wednesday 25th October 2006 in Witney By Ruth Keeling

A MOTHER who wanted to earn some extra money for Christmas has become the victim of a home-working scam.

Grace Dale, of Stanway Close, Witney, answered an advert earlier this month offering readers as much as £3,000 per month for typing and mailing envelopes from home.

Other applicants lost £15 cheques, but Mrs Dale ended up having having £1,200 taken from her bank account.

The 34-year-old part-time admin worker said: "I just wanted extra money for Christmas. I have got a two-year-old daughter, and it was just to buy extra bits and pieces for her."

Mrs Dale spotted the advert in the Oxford Mail, and, as instructed, texted her name and address to a mobile number.

A letter was sent asking her to pay a registration fee of £15, which she sent by cheque - deciding that if it was a con, £15 wasn't too much to lose.

"What if that had been some old pensioner who had lost all their pension, and hadn't even noticed?"

Grace Dale

She said: "After a week, I hadn't heard anything, so I phoned them up. The man said that quite a few people had had the cheque go missing, so he asked me to pay by card."

But the day after the phone call she was contacted by her bank who asked her if she or her husband had withdrawn £1,200 from her account.

She said: "If Barclays hadn't phoned us, we wouldn't have known."

The bank has shut down the account, and have told Mrs Dale she will get the money back once they are sure the withdrawal was fraudulent.

She said: "It is just the inconvenience, and afterwards you just feel angry.

"What if that had been some old pensioner who had lost all their pension, and hadn't even noticed?"

Mrs Dale, who has reported the fraud to the police and trading standards, added: "It has put me off replying to any adverts about home work."

"I hope they get caught, and they get some kind of sentence. I am obviously not the first, and I am sure I won't be the last until something is done."

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said they were investigating the matter, and Oxfordshire County Council's trading standards team have issued a warning to the public about the scam.

They have received a number of complaints from people who sent off the £15 registration fee, and then received a phone call asking for them to pay over the phone, because the cheque had not cleared.

Councillor Ray Jelf, Oxfordshire's cabinet member for community safety, said: "These scams usually aim to exploit those least able to afford to lose money.

"They are aimed at people who would like to work or earn more money, but who are restricted in the work they can take on.

"Trading standards officers will be looking to ensure the people behind this scam are identified and investigated."

There was no response on the phone line when the Witney Gazette rang it.

Belinda Rand, of Newsquest Oxfordshire's advertising department, said: "As soon as we were notified that something was amiss, we investigated the matter and pulled the advert from all our papers.

"We are also helping trading standards with their inquiries."