THOUSANDS of “misleading” leaflets have dropped through the letterboxes of homes in Warwickshire falsely claiming to be from the air ambulance.
They are asking for clean and re-usable clothing, bed linen, jewellery, and mobile phones.
The leaflets also ask neighbours to leave their donations in large plastic bags to be collected from the roadside from 8am on Friday.
There is also an invitation to gain an air ambulance service membership card but it requires people to send their name and address by calling the telephone number printed on the leaflet.
People can also text the word AIR with their personal details at a cost of £5 plus network fee.
But the leaflet has nothing to do with the local air ambulance.
Warwickshire Trading Standards is investigating the issue after it received complaints from residents in Leamington.
And air ambulance charities across the country have been notified to warn potential victims of the scam.
A spokesman for Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance said: “The leaflet has absolutely nothing to do with our charity or our sister service Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance and any donations made to this scam company will not go towards your local air ambulance service.
“The leaflet is very misleading and could easily lead people into thinking they are supporting our vital life-saving service.
“As a registered charity we rely on voluntary income to keep us flying and saving lives and it is upsetting that this company seems to be confusing people over who they are supporting.
“I would therefore urge supporters to look for our registered charity number, 1098874, when making a donation, or if you are unsure please do call a member of the air ambulance team on 0845 4130 999.
“I would like to ask people to ensure they carry on donating clothing through our branded collection bags and make sure that they support Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air
Ambulance."
I tried to stop this scam in nuneaton last month.
ReplyDeleteWe alerted trading standards and then stopped the van when it was doing it collection. It was un-taxed and unsafe. The police were called and took the van to be crushed.
I am furous that Warwickshire trading standards have not issued a stop notice on these scammers. Instead they just pass on stuff to oxfordshire.
Please email peterrowland@warwickshire.gov.uk and tell him you want some action taken.