Financial Harm

In conjunction with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) and Scottish Government, a specially designed financial harm toolkit has been produced which will help you and those you care for to stay safe and avoid scams.

Created as a self-help area, the toolkit contains a wealth of useful information on many areas including doorstep crime, email scams, unwanted mail, online shopping, financial abuse, power of attorney and much more.

Our aim is to empower residents to avoid financial harm from scams, with emphasis on protecting residents in vulnerable situations.

You can access the Financial Harm Toolkit below.

This toolkit was designed by Friends Against Scams in conjunction with The National Trading Standards Scams Team and was developed to help those who have been the victim of a scam apply to their bank or building society to ask for their money back. It is for anyone that has been tricked into paying money to someone who was not who they said they were or never intended to provide the goods and services that they promised.

It explains what is covered by the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code – a voluntary code which major banks have signed up to that sets out circumstances in which victims should be reimbursed by their bank – as well as what to do if the payment is not covered.

You can access the reimbursement toolkit below.

Every year organised criminals knock doors uninvited and offer to do roof repairs, driveways and gardening work. The price frequently rises from the original quote and the work is rarely done properly, if at all.

Unscrupulous salesmen selling goods and services at inflated prices have also caused problems. A “No Cold Calling sticker" can be displayed on your door, this gives you the option to say no to uninvited doorstep traders.

There are stickers available for doors with a glass panel and for solid doors, please indicate your preference in the email.

To order your "No Cold Calling Sticker" complete the online form below.

Free call blockers are available for local victims of scams and nuisance phone calls.

Stirling & Clackmannanshire Trading Standards is engaging in a national project funded by Scottish Government to supply call blockers to residents who believe they are being targeted by scam and nuisance phone calls.

Call blockers help residents in vulnerable situations who are experiencing a high number of nuisance calls or have been a victim of a scam.

The devices being supplied are the trueCall Secure call blockers - a small piece of equipment that plugs into a landline phone socket and blocks unwanted calls automatically.  Instead of trying to work out what's genuine and what's not, it lets friends and family straight through to talk to you but blocks everyone else.

Visit the TrueCall website for more information on the call blocker device.

If you wish to apply for a call blocker email tradingstandards@stirling.gov.uk.