Beware of fake ID, Mid Devon Council warns (From This is The West Country)

Beware of fake ID, Mid Devon Council warns

11:07am Wednesday 27th June 2012 in Devon

WITH the use of fake ID thought to be on the increase, Mid Devon Council is reminding residents and businesses to make sure visitors claiming to work for the council have the correct ID.

Although no cases have yet been reported in Mid Devon, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Food Standards Agency are warning businesses to be on the lookout after fraudsters, claiming to be council environmental health officers, attempted to extort money from businesses and residents in other parts of the country.

Paul Williams, the council's head of environmental services, said: “Our environmental health officers always carry legitimate ID when visiting premises and we would encourage all businesses to ask to see this. Generally, our EHOs will always ask to speak to the owner or manager when conducting visits and would not ever ask for money.

“If anyone receives a visit from someone who claims to be an environmental health officer and they do not have correct ID that looks official or asks for any form of payment, then please let us know.”

There have also been reports of council tenants being targeted by bogus gas servicing engineers.

Tenants are urged to not allow anyone into their home without proper ID which will always be carried by engineers working for the council.

Any suspicious callers should be reported to the police by calling 101.