Fraud awareness information

From the BEO:

Dear Residents

The Barbican Police Office have asked that this information is sent out to Barbican residents:

Please be aware that fraudsters are currently targeting victims in the Barbican area and the article below describes methods being used. Remember that a bank will never ask for your PIN number and police officers do not act on behalf of financial institutions to collect or deliver cards. If you believe you have received a genuine call use a different telephone to call your bank using the number on your bank statement.

Bank customers are falling victim to a new and sophisticated type of credit card fraud which has increased threefold since the beginning of the year.

Victims are telephoned by fraudsters and duped into revealing their PIN and then handing over their bank card to a courier in this new form of crime, which has seen more than £750,000 taken from customers since the beginning of the year.

The scam involves a person being called by someone claiming to be from their bank. They are told that their debit or credit card needs collecting as it needs replacing following fraud on their account.

The caller often suggests that the person hangs up and calls the bank back if they want to ensure the call is genuine, but stays on the line, tricking the person into thinking they're calling their bank. The criminal will then ask the person to key in their PIN number, before sending a courier to collect the card. The victim is told the card is going to the bank to be changed but it is actually delivered to the fraudster to use along with the PIN obtained during the scam.

DCI Paul Bernard, head of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit, said: "Many of us feel confident that we can spot fraudsters but this type of crime can be sophisticated and could happen to anyone. While we have seen an increase in this type of fraud, we know collectively we can stamp it out. "If you become a victim of this type of crime, you should contact your bank in the first instance. If you have friends or relatives who you feel may be vulnerable to this, please help them to be more aware of the potential risks and what to look out for. Remember, if you are the innocent victim of card fraud you will not suffer any financial loss."
More than £1.5m has now been lost to this crime, with the same amount £750,000 stolen in the first four months of 2012 that was stolen during the whole of 2011.

The Payments Council found in a survey of account holders that more than three quarters feel confident that they would be able to spot a fraudulent telephone banking call. However, after hearing how the card fraud phone scam works, over half of the 4,000 people surveyed were surprised by how sophisticated it was, one third worried they were more vulnerable than they thought and four fifths felt that anyone could be a potential victim of the fraud.

Mr Bernard said that customers should follow some simple tips to avoid being a victim. These include making sure you can hear the dial tone when you call your bank, and never handing over your card. Your bank or the police will never ring you and tell you that they are coming to your home to pick up your card, so never hand it over to anyone who comes to collect it.

He added that your bank will never ask you to authorise anything by entering your PIN into the telephone. The only times that you should enter your PIN are at a cash machine or when you use a shop's chip and PIN machine.

Christine Phillips
Wards Constable

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Fwd: City of London Consultations with residents

Two documents were sent out with the following message:

• City Residents Consultation
• A guide to consulting in schemes in and around the Barbican Estate

This email is sent on behalf of the Chairs of the Barbican Association and the Residents' Consultation Committee:

City of London Consultations with residents

From the Chairs of the Barbican Association and the Residents' Consultation Committee:

As you may have read in the most recent BA Newsletter, the City is in the process of revising its consultation processes with residents, and formalising this into a protocol and a series of steps it intends to follow when consulting with us. In the attached letter we wish to introduce the process to you, and explain the principal changes, as we see them. Also attached is a sheet prepared by the City that sets out the consultation protocol in diagrammatic form. We would like to hear what you think about these proposals, so we can pass these on to the City. 

Please take a moment to read through both attachments, and then let us know of any comments you have to make. We have set up a short feedback survey to make it quick and easy to respond, which you can access from this link: http://eSurv.org?u=BAconsult13 

Please provide any feedback to us no later than the 23rd January 2014. 

We wish all Barbican residents a happy and peaceful 2014. 

Jane Smith, Chair, Barbican Association

Tim Macer, Chairman, Barbican Residents' Consultation Committee

Meet the Town Clerk: Tue 20th Jan

From the BA:

Meet the Town Clerk – Reminder
Dear Barbican Resident

Just a reminder about the "Meet the Town Clerk" meeting tomorrow: Tuesday 21 January at 6pm in the City of London School of Girls.

John Barradell is coming specifically to talk to Barbican residents about his role in the City and to listen to residents' views and answer their questions.
All residents are welcome – and there will also be an informal opportunity to talk to John over drinks afterwards.

Best wishes

Jane Smith
Chair, Barbican Association

Mr. Scargill and the Barbican

The BBC have an article (here) about a past resident of the Barbican (described as "prestigious"*), one Mr. Arthur Scargill, and his experiences trying to buy a flat here:

des res

* The Barbican Estate, not Arthur

Cleansing not-spot beside Cote and SC64

The paved area outside the level 02 exit from Ben Jonson House to Whitecross St. is often used as a public ashtray and toilet. Responsibility for keeping this area clean falls to the City of London cleansing department. On their web site (here) the cleansing department ask people to let them know "If you notice rubbish or litter on the street", and even provide a smart phone app for reporting issues.

Or you can call the cleansing department on 020 7606 3030.  Please do call them if you see anything like this:

Fines of up to £2,500 for this

Planning applications this week

This week's planning applications, again thanks to the BA planning person:

3 Cloth Street, at the Aldersgate end, is to change from office to short-let serviced apartments (13/01170/FULL). The building will get about half a storey higher, but will still be only five storeys.

The Shakespeare, the pub in Crescent House on Goswell Road, is to have new signage and light fittings on the outside (13/01224/FULL, 13/01225/LBC). This looks to have minimal impact on the Barbican.

Film School: Substantial rent free period

News about the London Film School's move to beneath Ben Jonson and Breton house comes out in dribs and drabs.

The latest snippet is that the film school will have a 'substantial rent free period' when they move in.  This is to help them with the costs of converting the existing space here in the Barbican.  My guess is that this is viewed by the City as an investment in their "Cultural Quarter" idea.