The latest selection of Isle of Wight scams have been reported to Trading Standards this month.
Here's the low down on the latest things to look out for and avoid.
Facebook scam
If you are an administrator of a Facebook page be careful when being asked, or giving permission to post adverts for events such as Christmas Fayres.
There have been reports that these may be scams and the poster is giving a price for stall holders and requesting private messaging to arrange.
Equally, if you are a trader who attends these events, make sure you are arranging this with a genuine organiser.
In each case do some checks with local Town or Parish Councils or the manager of the location to ensure that this is a genuine event and not a scam
Southern Water scam
A resident has reported receiving a text asking him to call a phone number regarding his water bill.
If you are concerned that this might be genuine and there might be a problem find your own number for Southern Water and contact them this way.
DON’T ring any number given to you by the caller.
John Lewis scam
A resident has received a message from John Lewis alerting them to a potential scam where couriers have been visiting or making contact with their credit card customers saying there’s a problem with the card and asking them to hand it over.
This is Courier Fraud — NEVER hand your card over to anyone even if they say they are the police.
I've got the power (scam)
We have had reports regarding a phone call alleging to be from a power company, they warn of storms causing possible outages and ask you to press 1 if you understand.
This number has been checked on Who Called Me and has over 1,000 comments confirming it as a scam number often calling in the middle of the night!
Covid Council House Confusion
And finally a scam caller purporting to be from the “dis-repair” team regarding the backlog of disrepair to council housing since Covid.
The resident told him she didn’t live in a council property and he hung up. On checking Who Called Me this mobile number had been used for a variety of scams.