News Scammers jailed for four and a half years A mother and son who attempted to scam almost 600,000 from customers using their pet supplies website have each been jailed for four and a half years. Mechelle Chatfield, 47, and Ian Chatfield, 28, from Nunburnholme near Pocklington, were sentenced at Hull Crown Court after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to a single charge of participating in a false business between 4 January 2010 and 1 April 2012. The court heard how the case was the biggest investigation undertaken by East Riding of Yorkshire Trading Standards, which received numerous complaints from customers who had bought pet items from the pairswebsites www.pawspetsupermarket.co.uk and www.shopforyourpets.co.uk Once items had been bought from the websites, the pair would repeatedly use customers cards to take extra money from their bank accounts. On 30 December 2011 alone, the pair took 14,000 worth of card payments and, for the month of February 2011, they took more than 48,000 worth of cash. David Dixon, prosecuting, told the court that during the 28-month period, there had been 35,128 attempts at repeat use of credit cards and, had they all been successful, the total value of the fraud would have been 576,288. The actual amount of money taken was 411,388. The money obtained had been used to fund a lavish lifestyle, which included Caribbean cruises and luxury holidays in Florida. The defendants also rented a five-bedroom house in Routh, nearBeverley, which had its own swimming pool. This was being funded by housing benefit, and was the address where most of the offending took place. The court also heard how, after the pair were arrested and bailed in February 2012, they took 7,000 from customers bank accounts. Judge Mark Bury praised the trading standards team for their work: I am aware that trading standards officers have a very limited budget and I understand these officers have sifted through 100,000 pieces of data and information to bring this case to court. Colin Briggs, East Riding of Yorkshire Trading Standards manager, welcomed the sentence and added that, while his officers had taken just 49 statements from across the country, he believed the number of victims could well be around the 3,000 mark. Cash returned to victims Hundreds of pounds have been returned and advice offered to East Sussex residents who have fallen foul of postal scams. Trading standards officers from the county council held a two-day operation in June to return cheques to those duped into handing over money for bogus lotteries, prize draws and clairvoyant scams, and to provide advice to prevent citizens from becoming victims again. Current figures from the National Trading Standards Scams Team show the average age of a scam victim is 74 and the average loss to each victim is 1,166. The National Trading Standards Scams Team which is hosted by East Sussex Trading Standards receives intelligence from a number of sources, including seized mailing lists and money, which it passes on to 153 local trading standards services. The lists contain details of people who have been targeted by scam letters, including invitations to take part in bogus lotteries and prize draws. People who reply to a scam letter for the first time are put on the lists and their details are then sold to criminals around the world, making them even more vulnerable to becoming a victim again in the future. Ignored reminder leads to 5,000 fine SToCk-ASSo / ShuTTErSToCk Islington Council has fined a local firm 5,000 for failing to sign up to a complaints redress scheme. Since October last year, all letting agents and property managers have been legally required to sign up to one of three official redress schemes, so tenants and landlords can get independent adjudication of complaints. Before the new rules came in, Islington Trading Standards and The Property Ombudsman wrote to lettingagents in Islington advising them to sign up to a scheme or risk a fine. Almost all of Islingtons 150 letting agents signed up, but APS Estates, of Caledonian Road, did not. Trading standards followed up their original letter with a visit and further reminders. On 10 December 2014, Islington Trading Standards issued a notice saying it intended to impose a fine of 5,000 for failing to sign up. APS Estates appealed the decision, but on 5 June 2015 an independent tribunal found in favour of Islington Trading Standards, and stated that the fine should remain at 5,000. APS has now joined a redress scheme. Other changes in the law also affect letting agents. Since 27 May it has been a legal requirement for agents to display fees charged to tenants and landlords on their website and on their premises. Agents that fail to display these fees and required information face a penalty of up to 5,000. James Murray, Islington Councils executive member for housing and development, said: More and more people in Islington rent privately, and we want to make sure they are treated well and not ripped off. The vast majority of local lettings agents signed up to a redress scheme in good time, but we took action against the small number that did not. Its important that tenants and landlords can get independent adjudication if they have a complaint. Safety concerns voiced over takeaway foods Peanut protein and banned colourings have been found in lamb dishes that were supposed to be peanut free, Warwickshire Trading Standards has revealed. Trading standards officers visited 16 restaurants and takeaways located in Nuneaton, Warwick and Leamington Spa, posing as customers with peanut allergies. The officers asked for peanut-free dishes and then chose lamb curries. These were tested by a public analyst. Half of the lamb curries contained significant traces of peanut protein, despite being described as peanut free. Traces of peanuts are capable of causing severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions in those who suffer from peanut allergies. A further seven dishes contained illegal colourings, the use of which is banned in any type of curry. Some banned colourings are linked to hyperactivity, asthma and cancer. Three of the lamb curries contained no lamb at all, but instead had beef in them and in one it was impossible to determine which sort of meat had been used.