Action Fraud has received 139 crime reports relating to fake text messages purporting to be from the UK government. The texts state that the recipient is “owed” or “eligible” for an energy bill discount as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme. The links in the emails lead to genuine-looking websites that are designed to steal your personal and financial information.
You can see screenshots of the text messages on our Twitter post here. 

How to protect yourself

• Energy Bill Discount : £400 off energy bills for households in Great Britain from October 2022. You do not need to apply for the scheme and you will not be asked for your bank details.
• Spotted a suspicious text message? Forward it to 7726 (it’s free of charge). If you forward a text to 7726, your provider can investigate the origin of the text and arrange to block or ban the sender, if it’s found to be malicious.

For more information on how to stay secure online, please visit www.cyberaware.gov.uk

Please be advised that details of a proposed traffic order for Station Road, Netley are now available on Eastleigh Borough Council’s website:
 
https://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/parking-travel-and-roads/traffic-orders-and-regulations/traffic-regulation-orders-tros/proposed-tros
 
Any objections to this order should be made to the Legal Services Manager at EBC by 21 October 2022.

Hampshire Constabulary wanted to share an update with you from our partners, The Blue Lamp Trust, of which our Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney is a Trustee. 

​While you may already be aware of, or indeed used, their Bobby Scheme service – which provides free home security visits, long-life smoke alarms and advice to vulnerable residents in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, particularly the elderly and victims of burglary and domestic abuse – they have launched; Cyber Bobby. 

This is a scheme from the Blue Lamp Trust which is seeking to help protect vulnerable people from becoming victims of cyber-crime.

The scheme, much-like the Bobby Scheme, provides home visits, giving advice and guidance about basic IT security.

Our police vetted advisors offer FREE home visit to residents of Hampshire who are:

• Over 65 years old
• Disabled (over 18)
• Previous victim of cyber crime

They will discuss and advise local residents on:

• What is cyber-crime
• Cyber and scam prevention advice
• How to check privacy settings
• Signposting to other advice and resources
• How to report issues
• How to recognise scam emails and text messages

All of the Blue Lamp Trust advisors are police vetted and carry ID cards to reassure local residents that they are genuine – and please remember, they will not be offended if you ask to see their ID to validate their identity.
If you, or anybody you know, is eligible (based on the criteria above) and would benefit from a Cyber Bobby referral, please enquire via the Blue Lamp Trust website at https://www.bluelamptrust.org.uk/cyber-bobby
Alternatively, you can make an enquiry by calling the Blue Lamp Trust directly on 0300 777 0157.

The agenda for the Council Meeting on Monday 26th September has been published here. 

The meeting is at Abbey Hall starting at 7pm, however we will be live streaming the meeting via our YouTube channel - here. ​

Action Fraud is warning the public about a sharp rise in reports relating to fake emails purporting to be from Ofgem, the independent energy regulator for Great Britain. The emails claim that the recipient is due a rebate payment as part of a government scheme and provides links for the recipient to follow in order to apply for the rebate. The links in the emails lead to malicious websites designed to steal personal and financial information.
Between Monday 22nd August 2022 and Monday 5th September 2022, a total of 1,567 phishing emails related to this scam have been reported via the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS). All the emails display the email subject header “Claim your bill rebate now”. Offenders are using the Ofgem brand logo and colours to make the emails look as authentic as possible. However, the emails ask recipients to “apply for an energy bill rebate before September 2020”, which is what prompted many recipients to realise the emails weren’t genuine.
You can view examples of the fake emails in our social media posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

How you can protect yourself and others

• If you have any doubts about a message, contact the organisation directly. Don’t use the numbers or address in the message – use the details from their official website. Remember, your bank (or any other official source) will never ask you to supply personal information via email.

• If you have received an email which you’re not quite sure about, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk. Send us emails that feel suspicious, even if you're not certain they're a scam - we can check.

For advice on how to stay secure online, please visit: www.cyberaware.gov.uk

Did you know you can support Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance via the clothing bank at Hound Parish Hall?

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is the independent Charity that brings an advanced critical care team to the most seriously ill and injured patients in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, giving them the best chance of survival and recovery, when the worst happens.
The Charity’s clothing banks are placed across the region and collect unwanted clothing. Each tonne of textiles, including clothes, shoes and hats, bags, belts and bras, that is donated, will guarantee at least £210 for the life-saving Charity, ensuring they can continue to provide critical care to the most seriously ill and injured people in the region.​

We have over 60 banks in Hampshire. For more information and to find other local clothing banks go to https://www.hiowaa.org/recycle/ and help ensure the Air Ambulance can carry on saving lives for many years to come.”

Welcome to the CSW monthly update. Please see the attached for the background, explanatory information. 
You may have noticed our recruitment posters have now come down as we are currently fully staffed with volunteers. I will be advising the parish councils as and when we will need to recruit again and the posters will then be back up. 
The representation of volunteers from the parishes break down as – 
Hedge End – 7, West End – 2, Botley – 3, Netley – 0, Bursledon – 0, Hamble – 2 and Out of area – 1, Total = 15.
The number of locations currently assessed are –
Hedge End – 7, West End – 1, Botley – 1  Netley – 5, Bursledon – 2, Hamble – 2.
I have a list of roads that are waiting to be reassessed (from the previous CSW) and a list of new roads that need assessing. But rest assured we are working our way through these slowly. If you want to suggest new locations – please bear in mind the limitations I have described in the attached information, but feel free to reply to me via Hampshire Alert with the ‘what 3 words’ location of the perceived speeding and I will add this to my list to check. Any suggested locations without a ‘what 3 words’ location will not be looked at. Anyone can access the ‘what 3 words’ website in order to pinpoint a location. www.what3words.com 
Unfortunately, there was an issue during one of the road side sessions, whereby some of the kit took a fall and was then taken out of action pending repair. The sessions that were affected can also be seen in the spreadsheet. 
The following are the results from the AUGUST road side sessions - 

​If you have any questions that relate to CSW in general, please email the central team on speedwatch@hampshire.police.uk
If you have any questions that relate to our specific CSW – please reply to me through Hampshire Alert – however please do bear in mind that I am sending this update to over 3000 residents, so I may not be able to reply to everyone – but I will try. Or what I may do, is include some of the answers to questions in the next update.
Please do recommend that your neighbours, friends and family sign up to Hampshire Alert – so they hear direct from the local NPT. www.hampshirealert.co.uk 
Many thanks to the CSW Team for your continued hard work and dedication to reducing speed in the community.
PCSO 18358 Charlie Woodford.
Hedge End Neighbourhood Policing Team.