Talk Talk Cyber Attack 24/10/2015

Cyber Attack
Talk Talk, the phone and broadband provider, has been the victim of a cyber attack on their website commonly referred to as DDoS – distributed denial of service attack. This has led to hackers accessing Talk Talks servers and stealing personal data, which could affect over four million customers. It is currently unknown exactly what data has been stolen but Talk Talk has stated that there is a chance that some of the following data could have been accessed:

• Name and addresses
• Dates of birth
• Email addresses
• Telephone numbers
• Talk Talk account information
• Credit card and banking details

 
Protect yourself

• Be wary of any emails claiming to be from Talk Talk asking for additional information such as passwords even if they are able to tell you specific account details – this could be a phishing email and sent to gain access to your account.
• If you have opened an email attachment please ensure you change the passwords for all your bank, email and online shopping accounts.
• As well as e-mails be wary of any telephone calls claiming to be from Talk Talk that ask for additional information or want to gain remote access to your computer. Again they may tell you specific details about your account. If you get such a call do not give any details, terminate the call, use a separate telephone line/mobile phone and call Talk Talk back on one of their known numbers to ascertain if the call is genuine.
• Monitor your bank accounts for any unusual activity that you believe may be fraudulent.

Overturned tanker on M56 near to Helsby

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Message sent by Caroline Jones (Cheshire Fire, Administrator, Cheshire Fire)

Firefighters are at the scene of a road traffic collision involving a tanker which has overturned on the M56 near to Helsby.

Nobody is trapped in the vehicle.

A cordon has been set up while emergency crews deal with the incident.

Drivers are advised to avoid the area.

 The motorway has been fully closed between junction 11 (Daresbury) and junction 14 (Hapsford).

For more information about this incident, please visit the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service website:

http://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/news-events/incidents/ongoing-incident-overturned-tanker-on-m56-hapsford

Council Tax Scam 20/10/2015

Fraudsters have been phoning victims telling them that they have been placed in the wrong council tax bracket for a number of years and are entitled to a rebate. They normally say that this rebate should be worth about £7,000. Once the victim is convinced, the fraudster tells them that in order to receive the rebate they will need to pay an administration fee in advance. The payment they ask for varies between £60–£350. The victim provides the details and makes the payment, but then is no longer able to make contact with the person they spoke to on the phone. When they phone their council about the rebate and the fact that they are in the wrong tax bracket, the council will confirm that they know nothing about it and that they have been contacted by fraudsters.

The fraudsters have mainly been targeting both male and female victims who are aged 60 and over and live in the Sussex area, but it is likely that the fraudsters will also start to target victims in other areas. 
 
Protect Yourself:

• Never respond to unsolicited phone calls.
• Your local council won’t ever phone out-of-the-blue to discuss a council tax rebate. If you receive a call of this nature, put the phone down straight away.
• No legitimate organisation will ask you to pay an advanced fee in order to receive money, so never give them your card details.
• If you think you have been a victim of fraud, hang up the phone and wait five minutes to clear the line as fraudsters sometimes keep the line open. Then call your bank or card issuer to report the fraud. Where it is possible use a different phone line to make the phone call.

If you believe that you have been a victim of fraud you can report it onlinehttp://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud or by telephone 0300 123 2040.

Help and Advice Surgeries – Graham Evans MP Weaver Vale

Help and Advice Surgeries – Graham Evans MP Weaver Vale

For further details regarding the Help and Advice Surgeries can be found at http://www.grahamevans.org.uk/advice-surgeries or you can call the office on 01925 606500 / 020 7219 7183