News Third of private Scottish car parks in breach of consumer protection laws One in three private car parks was found to be in breach of consumer protection laws during a coordinated investigation across Scotland. The checks were made by local authority trading standards services after an increasing number of complaints were made by the public. Private car parking at retail centres, supermarkets and stand-alone private car parks is subject to general consumer laws. When drivers payfor private parking, they enter into a contract with the service provider and are protected by a range of laws designed to ensure fairness for consumers. It is no different from buying goods and services on the high street. The investigation was coordinated through the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS). Chair of SCOTSS Peter Adamson said: The main problems we found were inadequate signage, and ticket machines that were difficult to use or malfunctioning. We also found evidence of unfair application of penalty charges for example, a 100 charge for a very minor mistake by a driver, who had paid the correct fee for parking but failed to type their vehicle registration into the ticket machine correctly. The investigation found that: Penalty charges imposed by operators ranged from 15 to 100, with an average of 75 One in four car parks was found to have inadequate signage, so drivers did not know which circumstances attracted a penalty charge or even that payment was required Around 50 per cent of car parks used automatic number plate recognition technology to track vehicles Adamson added: Private car parking is a legitimate business activity. High-demand parking space in our towns and cities must be managed, and consumers cannot expect to park for free in these busy urban areas. At the same time, however, consumers must be treated fairly. They must be given all the information they need to use a car park and must not be subject to unfair terms or practices. Slow broadband disrupts work and other services for six out of 10 people Research has found that six out of essential markets, such as energy of consumers in these markets by 10broadband consumers have and water. establishing a telecoms consumer experienced slow service or their connection stopped working entirely Citizens Advice is now calling on government to strengthen the voice advocate in the upcoming Consumer Green Paper. in the past year. The poll from Citizens Advice found that this disruption of service affected the ability of some people to work or study (24 per cent), pay bills or bank online (16 per cent), orconnect with friends and family (21 per cent). Istock.com / Chunumunu This latest polling builds on previous research by Citizens Advice that showed consumers face more problems in the mobile and broadband markets than in other Fake signed football memorabilia business found guilty in 1m fraud 90% of scam texts stopped by HMRC HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) stopped 90 per cent of the most convincing scam texts reaching people in the run-up to its self assessment tax deadline and during its Take Five To Stop Fraud Week in January. Fraudsters alleging to be from HMRCcontact unsuspecting members ofthe public, via text messages, suggesting theyare due a tax rebate. Messages usually include links to websites, which harvest personal information or spread malware. This, in turn, can lead toidentityfraud and the theft of personalsavings. In April 2017, HMRC began a pilot to identify fraud texts with tags that suggest theyre from HMRC, and stop them from being delivered. The initiative has helped reduce reports of these scams from more than 5,000 in March 2017 before the new programme was introduced to fewer than 1,000 in December 2017. HMRC is working with the National Cyber Security Centre to further this work and extend the benefits beyond customers of the tax office. Wayne Rooney helped Dorset Trading Standards convict a con artist who made more than 1m from selling fake sporting memorabilia. In March 2015, Rooney, then of Manchester United, was at a genuine signing session in Manchester. The striker was approached on behalf of Dorset Trading Standards by a business representing him, to give a sample of his signature proving that a test purchase of a shirt costing 150 was fake. This evidence was used at trial to convict David William Rennie, 46, of Banbury, Oxford, who was found guilty of running fraudulent business FA Premier Signings which specialised in signed football memorabilia at Bournemouth Crown Court on 12 January 2018. The court heard that, in 2002, Rennie set up an online football memorabilia business, which he ran from his home in Banbury. This sold signed football shirts, balls and boots which it claimed were signed by some of the worlds most famous footballers, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. Rennie also claimed to be able to source signed squad shirts and balls from top football clubs. In a nine-year period, between 2007 and 2016, FA Premier Signings sold more than 4,500 pieces of signed memorabilia, including 1,500 squad-signed items, which were bought by customers all over the world. Rennie charged more than 700 for a squad-signed shirt. The proceeds were spent on leading a lavish lifestyle, including lengthy holidays to Florida each year for his family, and luxury cars. During the four-day trial, Rennie was found guilty of running a fraudulent business, contrary to the Fraud Act 2006, and an offence of transferring criminal property contrary to Section 327 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Rennies wife, Clare, 45, who worked in the business with him, hadpleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court on 8 January 2018 toidentical charges, under the Fraud Act 2006 and Proceeds of Crime Act2002. David and Clare Rennie will be sentenced on 16 February at Bournemouth Crown Court.