OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING SCAMS AWARENESS MONTH

That this House welcomes the events organised as part of the Office of Fair Trading's Scams Awareness Month; notes with concern that an estimated three million United Kingdom consumers fall victim to scams sent by email, internet, post, text and the telephone, collectively losing £3.5 billion; recognises the success of the Scamnesty campaign, run in partnership with nearly 90 Local Authority Trading Standards Services, which calls on consumers to drop scam mailings they have received into designated Scamnesty bins or boxes at local libraries and public areas across the country, and which last year collected more than 15,000 mailings; and believes that widespread advice on how to spot scams will help people avoid being deceived in future.