Crime Prevention

Two Warwickshire Police events to support horse owners in the Rugby area

Warwickshire Police, with Warwickshire Horse Watch, are holding two events to support horse owners and riders in the Rugby area as part of The Vulnerable Road Users Initiative.

The First event is on Tuesday 21st September at 6.00pm at Rugby Riding Club, Ashlawn Road, Rugby CV22 5QE.  There will be a guest speaker from the British Horse Society together with representatives from Warwickshire Horse Watch and the Rugby Rural Safer-Neighbourhood Policing Team. They will be sharing some great stay safe tips and giving crime prevention advice.

The second event will be a free tack marking security event, on Saturday 25th September.  Priority appointments will be available to those who attended the first event on 21st September.

NFU Mutual report that the cost of rural theft in Warwickshire fell by over one third in 2020

The Warwickshire Police Rural Crime Team has announced that in 2020 they recovered more than £500k in stolen agricultural vehicles, equipment, tools, plant and caravans.  This news comes as a report from NFU Mutual found that the cost of rural theft in Warwickshire fell by nearly 35% in 2020 as COVID restrictions, increased farm security and rural policing kept criminals out of the countryside.  However, highly-organised criminals continued to plague farmyards over the pandemic, stealing high-value farming Global Positioning Systems, quad bikes and ATVs, resulting in the cost of agricultural vehicle theft reported to NFU Mutual being over £9m.  Read the full NFU Mutual 2021 Rural Crime Survey on this page. 

Could the uWatch cube help with your security concerns?

The uWatch Cube is a little weather proof box that can be sited anywhere that has a mobile signal. If the cube is moved, something moves in front of it, a Bluetooth Tag activates it, the temperature is outside a range you have set or the internal clock has told it to activate you will receive an alert on your smartphone in less than 30 seconds. The uWatch Cube could therefore be used for a variety of situations including security and as such the device has Police “secured by design” approval for preventing and solving crime. To view full information on wWatch Cube please visit this website.

Rural Crime Reporting

As part of their ongoing work to tackle the serious issues surrounding criminal behaviour on farms and in the wider countryside, the NFU has partnered with the charity Crimestoppers to launch the Rural Crime Reporting Line, a service through which information about four rural crimes can be given anonymously. Rural crimes often go under-reported and their true extent remains unknown. Anyone who has experienced, witnessed or has any information about these rural crimes is encouraged to come forward and call the line – your information could be extremely valuable.

Contact number: 0800 783 0137
Website: http://www.ruralcrimereportingline.uk

Beware of fraudsters targeting farmers who receive subsidy payments

In the past, banks have warned that fraudsters pretending to be from their bank’s fraud department may try to target farmers who receive subsidy payments. Remember:
• Your bank will never ask you for your full online password
• Your bank will not ask you to make a payment over the phone using your online account.
• If you get a call from someone claiming to be from your bank (or any other organisation), make sure it’s genuine. End the call then wait 5 minutes and call them back on a number you know is correct (not a number they’ve given you).
• Never give your PIN and other passwords to a 3rd party even if you think you are speaking to your bank.

Consider registering a domain name for your business if you don’t have a website

Online criminals are using a fake website scam to trick customers into paying money for goods that are never received. They do this by setting up a website using the name of a genuine business that does not have a website. The customer then thinks they are purchasing online goods from a genuine business but never receives the goods that they pay for.
If you are a business that does not have a website consider registering the domain name of your company to ensure that you do not fall victim to this scam.

Cyber Safety Advice

In the light of the recent cyber attacks on the NHS Warwickshire County Council has produced some cyber safety advice for businesses.
To read the advice in full please use the link below.

New YouTube videos to help businesses avoid cyber crime

A new YouTube Channel has recently been launched which is specifically aimed at businesses. The Channel houses an array of short, useful videos covering cyber crime related topics.
Some of the video topics include Ransomware, Phishing Emails and Password Management. If you’d like to view the videos or look at what other topics are covered visit the YouTube Channel below.

Horse Watch

Warwickshire Horsewatch is also open for horse owners in the West Mercia area. Warwickshire and West Mercia forces also recognise that with rural and equine crime, thieves do not respect borders and what happens in one county soon moves across to another. Therefore, alerts from many other counties are included on their Facebook page and in their Bulletins. You are invited to join the Warwickshire Scheme. To join, please visit the Warwickshire Horsewatch website.