President, Ellen Davis, welcomed everyone to the September meeting. Secretary reported that the Grand Day Out had been a success, everyone had enjoyed the day, and we had received letters of thanks from the members of other W.i’s who had joined us. Treasurer reported that the afternoon tea and cakes event had raised £306 with gift aid, and we had received a letter of thanks from Breast Cancer Research thanking us for the donation. A big thank you to everyone who supported us.

Bridges, together with the Dogs Trust are holding a fashion show on the 10th October in aid of funds. Ticket price includes a glass of bubbly. At the present time Bridges need support as they are of great benefit to the community and would be greatly missed if their lease cannot be sorted with the Monmouthshire County Council.

The speaker for the evening was from Tarian, Regional Organised Crime Unit, established in 2003 by three Wales police forces. 41% of all crime reported is frauds. Scammers operate from countries Nigeria, Romania, China, Russia, India to name but a few. There are amazing types of fraud, advance fee, banking and card fraud, cash machines, card and contactless payment, online Banking, computer software service, courier fraud. Holiday and identity and so many more.

It is so easy to fall for fraudsters as they are extremely clever and prey on people’s emotions, also putting pressure on their victims by giving them a short time limit to act. Do not be afraid to say NO and give yourself time to check.

As of April 2013, all fraud should be reported directly to Action Fraud. We were advised never give any details to anyone, like one time pass codes. Online shopping is vulnerable, never transfer money into another account unless you are 100% certain of the owner of the account, if you receive an unexpected call, hang up and use another telephone. We were advised to use three random words when making a password, for example, window desk, saucepan.

This talk was extremely thought provoking and helpful most members had received phoney phone calls, emails, etc. and we were now more aware of frauds. This talk is highly recommended, especially to people living alone who have no one to discuss things with and can be duped by “friendly” callers.

Members enjoyed refreshments and a great deal of chat about the speaker we had just heard. Our next meeting is Monday 29th October when we will be hearing about Magic and Witchcraft. Sounds spooky!