Advice on bogus callers

Scottish Water is reminding customers to follow their Card, Check and Call advice to stop bogus callers.

With the dark winter nights here, and our staff taking thousands of water samples from customers across the country, they are advising people how to recognise a genuine Scottish Water employee from a bogus caller when they turn up at their door.

The advice is reinforced in a Scottish Water advertisement which is featuring on television and radio between November 16 and 29.

Scottish Water carried out more than 150,000 water quality tests at customers’ taps last year to enable them to ensure they continue to provide customers with clear, fresh drinking water.

These ongoing tests are carried out by a sampling team whose members will arrive in recognisable vehicles and will always have photographic identification available.

Following Scottish Water’s simple Three C’s advice could help people to beat the bogus caller:

• Card – You can ask callers to pass their ID card or letter through the letter box in order to verify their identity.

• Check – Check the identity card carefully: Is the photo on the card the same as the person at the door? Does the card contain the Scottish Water Customer Helpline number? Has the card been tampered with in any way? If you are not confident that they are a genuine caller, then send them away!

• Call – If you are in any doubt about the caller’s identity please call our Customer Helpline on 0800 0778778. They advise customers to contact utility companies by using phone numbers found in telephone directories or the internet, but never from ID cards or letters presented, because these could be false. If you are still suspicious contact a neighbour or call the police.

When householders receive a cold call from anyone claiming to be from Scottish Water they should not, under any circumstances, open the door without first checking the caller’s ID card or letter – this should be passed through the letter box for verification.

This stops a bogus caller forcing their way in, even if the door is ajar, or on a chain. Scottish Water employees will be more than happy to wait while you check their identity.

Handy advice is available on their website www.scottishwater.co.uk/boguscaller.

Scottish Water’s Chief Operating Officer, Peter Farrer, said: “All of our employees carry identity cards, which they are more than happy to show when requested to do so. Householders shouldn’t let anyone into their home until they are sure of their identity. Check through the peep hole on your door; ask them to pass their ID card through the letter box. Our employees will be more than happy to wait while you check their identity.

“If you’re on your own and feel that you need more support then call a neighbour or a friend, and if you are at all worried about a caller, then please contact the police straight away. The advice is easy to remember – just three C’s – Card, Check and Call.”

In a bid to help protect customers against bogus callers, Scottish Water is again offering an Anti-Bogus Caller Pack which contains a personal electronic alarm, door viewer, UV Marker Pen and guard bar.

Packs are available to the first 100 customers contacting Scottish Water by emailing customermarketing@scottishwater.co.uk  or writing to us quoting Bogus Caller Pack, Customer Marketing, PO Box 8855 Edinburgh EH10 6YQ.

Further information is available on our website www.scottishwater.co.uk/boguscaller or follow us on Twitter @scottish_water or @ScotWaterNews and Facebook www.facebook.com/scottishwater.

For further information please contact the Scottish Water press office on 01383 848236 or Keith Sinclair, press officer, on 0141 414 7186 or at keith.sinclair@scottishwater.co.uk.