Residents urged to be vigilant to fraudulent phone calls
South Essex Homes has been made aware that residents are being called up by people claiming to work for ‘the council’, asking them questions about repairs and their rent. They are then trying to make an appointment to visit residents in their homes to talk about these issues.
Please be aware that these claims are fraudulent and we suspect that the calls are coming from unscrupulous individuals trying to convince residents to make disrepair claims against us. This is a known nationwide scam which you can read more about on our website: Disrepair Claims | South Essex Homes
Neither South Essex Homes nor Southend City Council would contact you proactively asking about repairs unless you have previously reported them to us. If someone you don’t know calls you on the phone claiming to work for us, please take their details and call our Contact Centre immediately to check their identity (0800 833160). A genuine member of staff will be more than happy for you to do this – but if the caller doesn’t want you to check their identity, then hang up the phone and don’t engage in conversation or pass over any personal information.
The resident who reported this issue to us initially believed the caller to be genuine and had made an appointment for them to visit their home address before they became suspicious, so it is possible that they have also contacted other local residents to try and make similar appointments.
We are keen to spread the word and encourage anyone who has unwittingly made an appointment to cancel it and notify South Essex Homes about your experience.
Anita McGinley, manager of our Housing Community Safety Team, said: “We are in contact with Essex Police regarding this issue. We ask residents to remain vigilant to this scam and report any suspicious phone calls to us so details can be compiled.”