Home Security in North West - scam

kingfisherblue

My mum recently received a cold call offering a home security system for free, implying that it was the police that supply them (in the same way that the Fire service fit free smoke alarms). My mum is in her seventies, but fortunately is suspicious of anything offered for 'free'. I looked into it for her and sure enough, there is no connection with the police. There is also a 'monitoring fee' that, funnily enough, they couldn't tell me the amount. Instead, they insisted that a risk assessor would have to come out first.

I was fortunate enough to get the name of the company - SOS Security (or possibly SOS Securities).

I have informed both the police and Trading Standards. Both returned my calls and TS tell me that although the telephone number is for Warrington, the company is based in Stockport and that they are already under investigation for their tactics.

We live in St. Helens, so they are obviously trying to con people in other towns as well. Having spoken to a few neighbours, mostly elderly, I found that quite a number had been contacted and misled.

Please, if you hear of this happening in your area, check on elderly people to ensure that they are not taken in by this company.

Thank you