Mobile phone scams highlighted

According to the department’s Trading Standards Service, there are a number of scams operating in Britain whereby mobile phone users are “cold called” and persuaded to give out financial details that they think will result in them switching their phone network providers.

In fact, however, the unscrupulous traders use the details to extract sums of money from unwitting consumers, who in some cases can be pushed further into debt management problems.

“If you are contacted by someone claiming to be from your service provider, you should immediately ask them to verify what company they work for,” says Damien Doherty fro the Trading Standards Service.

“Never agree to any offers nor provide your bank or credit card details over the phone,” he adds.

Earlier this month, figures released by Credit Action showed that the total personal debt mountain in the UK amounted to more than £1,325 billion.