About
Friends Against Scams is a National Trading Standards Scams Team initiative which aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering people to take a stand against scams.
What is Friends Against Scams?
Friends Against Scams is designed to inspire action, highlight the scale of the problem, change the perceptions of why people become victims of scams and make scams a community, regional and national topic.
By attending a Friends Against Scams awareness session or completing the online learning, anyone can learn about the different types of scams and how to spot and support a victim. With increased knowledge and awareness, people can make scams part of everyday conversation with their family, friends and neighbours, which will enable them to protect themselves and others.
Anyone can be a Friend Against Scams and make a difference in their own way.
National Trading Standards Scams Team
The National Trading Standards (NTS) Scams Team is funded by National Trading Standards and is hosted by Surrey County Council. The team was founded in 2012 to tackle the problem of postal, telephone and doorstep scams. The team works across England and Wales with trading standards and partner agencies to investigate scams and identify and support those who become a victim of a scam.
Postal, telephone and doorstep scams are often targeted specifically at disadvantaged consumers or those in periods of vulnerability. The NTS Scams Team estimates that the detriment to UK consumers as a result of these scams is between £5 and £10 Billion a year.
Aims of the NTS Scams Team are:
2. Intervene
To INTERVENE and protect victims from further victimisation.
3. Investigate
To INVESTIGATE criminal activity.
4. Inform
To INFORM local authorities and agencies on how to work with and support scam victims.
1. Identify
To IDENTIFY victims of scams.
5. Influence
To INFLUENCE people at local, regional and national levels to TAKE A STAND AGAINST SCAMS.
The team receives information from a range of partner agencies who IDENTIFY potential victims of scams. The team then contacts the local trading standards service of those silent victims and enters into partnership agreements with them. These partnership agreements include a variety of ways in which local authorities can work together to INTERVENE and support their identified victims. Information is gathered about victims and best practice, which enables the team to INFORM local authorities and partner agencies of the most effective ways to work with and support scam victims.
The team aims to raise awareness of scams by producing resources and leading campaigns to INFLUENCE people at local, regional and national levels. The team has a wide range of active projects and campaigns, which cover a variety of needs and have had excellent results. The team's Friends Against Scams initiative aims to prevent and protect people from becoming victims of scams by empowering people to take a stand against scams.
The team acts on information received from various sources, including in-house projects, to INVESTIGATE the path of scam mail. Through tracing the path of money sent in response to scams, the team have had well documented success and continue to act on new leads to tackle fraudulent activities.
Ways to Get Involved
Complete the Friends Against Scams training which aims to raise awareness of this type of fraud to help protect yourself and others against scams.
A SCAMchampion is someone who has access to the Friends Against Scams resources in order to hold their own awareness sessions within their community or workplace.
Do you want to help fight back against scams? Scam Marshals share their own experiences and send any scam mail that they receive to the team for investigations.