Councillor Siobhian Brown

Great idea from EAC colleague. Due to the current circumstances - patience and understanding is needed. Today, 44% of SAC waste management team were off or redeployed to emergency areas. When you see an overflowing bin- please understand that we are currently living in unusual circumstances and SAC are having to redeploy staff to other areas so people can get urgent food and medical supplies.
Things will return to normal we just need to work through this together ❤️

A few examples of scams going around at the moment- sent by my bank this morning.
Be extra vigilant.
Scammers are taking advantage... of the coronavirus situation.
With the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) situation, criminals are playing on people’s confusion to try new scams. Many claim to offer services and products relating to Covid-19, to trick innocent customers into parting with personal information and their money. So here are some tips to help you avoid becoming a victim.
Scams to look out for
Purchase scams offer protective equipment, sanitising products and other desirable goods for sale, that you will never receive. Be careful paying for anything via bank transfer and only buy goods from reputable companies that you know and trust.
Smishing is sending text messages that appear to come from a trustworthy source like the UK government or even your own doctor which try to steal personal or financial information. If you doubt the text’s authenticity, don't click links. Visit www.gov.uk to check any information given. Verify an organisation’s phone number from their website or from old printed correspondence.
Phishing is sending emails which try to make you divulge sensitive personal or financial information. They may appear to be Covid-19 tax refunds, reimbursements from travel bookings, safety advice via email and even donation requests. Fraudsters will try to make you click on links that aren't safe. So think before you click. If in doubt, then don't click. And don’t open any attachments from senders that you don’t know. If you’re still worried, talk to family, friends or someone else you trust.
Vishing is unsolicited phone calls. Always be suspicious of ‘cold-callers’. Don’t be afraid to challenge them or hang up if you can’t verify the caller. Banks, police etc. will never ask for security information, so never give out personal details. If you’re concerned, call the organisation back on the number listed on their website, ideally on a different phone as criminals can sometimes keep the line open. Or if it’s your bank, use the number on the back of your card.
What to do if you’ve been caught out
If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud or given away more information than you wanted to, please contact your bank as soon as possible. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
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I shared this on ‘Looking out for each other Ayr’ group. With these things you can never be sure if they are genuine or not. I have since had a friend from Ayr confirm this happened to her last week and they took a large amount of money from her account.
Please be very cautious during these uncertain times. 🙏
⚠️ 🚨
... Copied from a Police friend:
Just received this.. Straight from the City of London Police fraud team - Extremely sophisticated scam going about this morning. Definitely Danske bank customers but possibly all banks. You get a message saying a payment hasn’t been taken eg O2, Vodafone or EE and to click here. As soon as you touch it the money is gone. They already have all your details and it’s the most advance scam the bank has ever seen. Pass this on to everyone. Please. This is from work this morning - they are being inundated with calls - thousands flying out of peoples accounts! Spread the word!
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SAC Emergency Page for Coronavirus in Sth Ayrshire continually updated with current info.
https://beta.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/corona virus

From tomorrow, Scotland Cares will be launched where people can volunteer further within their communities.
https://www.readyscotland.org

👏👏