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15/10/2003
New agreement to see crackdown on international scams
A new level of co-operation to crack down on the menace of international scams has been announced by the Department of Trade and Industry.
UK consumers have in the past fallen victim to bogus Canadian lottery scams, and dubious e-mail approaches urging people to part with their money often originate from overseas, the department said.
DTI minister Gerry Sutcliffe was joined by John Vickers, Chairman of the Office of Fair Trading, to announce new arrangements to share information between the UK's consumer and competition law agencies and their counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The agreements are the first for the UK to cover both consumer and competition law. They define the scope for co-operation and arrangements for enforcement liaison, information exchange and treatment of confidential material.
Consumer Minister Mr Sutcliffe said: "These new links reflect our common determination to tackle global competition and consumer law abuses - particularly over the internet. The agreements we are signing today strengthen the relationships between our enforcement agencies, and will help us bring the scam-merchants to justice."
Canadian lottery scams involve an unsolicited telephone call informing the recipient that they have won a large prize in a Canadian lottery. In order to receive the prize, the winner must pay taxes or a handling fee but no win is ever received.
Another source of complaints is the telemarketing of entries in phoney business directories. Unsolicited calls to small businesses are followed by demands for payment for entries in these bogus publications.
(gmcg)
UK consumers have in the past fallen victim to bogus Canadian lottery scams, and dubious e-mail approaches urging people to part with their money often originate from overseas, the department said.
DTI minister Gerry Sutcliffe was joined by John Vickers, Chairman of the Office of Fair Trading, to announce new arrangements to share information between the UK's consumer and competition law agencies and their counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The agreements are the first for the UK to cover both consumer and competition law. They define the scope for co-operation and arrangements for enforcement liaison, information exchange and treatment of confidential material.
Consumer Minister Mr Sutcliffe said: "These new links reflect our common determination to tackle global competition and consumer law abuses - particularly over the internet. The agreements we are signing today strengthen the relationships between our enforcement agencies, and will help us bring the scam-merchants to justice."
Canadian lottery scams involve an unsolicited telephone call informing the recipient that they have won a large prize in a Canadian lottery. In order to receive the prize, the winner must pay taxes or a handling fee but no win is ever received.
Another source of complaints is the telemarketing of entries in phoney business directories. Unsolicited calls to small businesses are followed by demands for payment for entries in these bogus publications.
(gmcg)
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