Fraud, using telemarketing has flourished as the number of marketing calls and text calls has climbed to more than16 million a day, according to a recent Panorama documentary.

Frauds include land banking scams whereby plots of land worth £75 are aggressively sold to the vulnerable for £20,000 and up as “investment”, and computer scams where callers claim to be working on behalf of Microsoft and that there is something wrong with the victim’s computer, that they can fix for a fee. Continue reading →

A potato buyer at Sainsbury’s has been jailed for four years for taking £2.5 million in bribes from a potato supply firm.

John Maylam admitted enjoying lavish hospitality and gifts to the value of £1 million, and £1.5 million in cash paid in to an account in Luxembourg, for agreeing to his employer being overcharged by potato supplier Greenvale, an arrangement that cost Sainsbury’s £8.7 million.

Andrew Behagg, the former finance director of Greenvale who approved the payments was given three years, and another former director, David Baxter was given two and a half years.

Readers are reminded that an ever-popular scam is still being pumped out to anybody selling anything.

This works on the basis of asking the victim to bank a cheque, or charge a credit card for more than the amount wanted and to send the balance on to pay a third party, who the scammer says will be handling some aspect of the transaction. Those doing this subsequently find out that the cheque or credit card has been stolen, and that the third party is the scammer, who has disappeared with the money. Continue reading →

One new 2013 possibility for some top hospitality in the London Bridge area is the planned Shangri-La Hotel at the 1016 – foot (310 metres) 70-storey Shard building, for which the inauguration of its outside shell was this month.

The five-star luxury hotel is the 72-property Asia-Pacific group’s first in the UK and is likely to open May/June 2013 on floors 34-52 with 202 large guestrooms of around 452 sq feet (42 sq. metres), one conference and banqueting room for up to 200, (divisible into two) two meetings rooms for up to 20, a luxury spa, fitness centre, indoor pool, restaurants, a champagne bar at floor 52 and London views for forty miles on a clear day.

Those with £24.95 to spend can book advance tickets from the Shard’s owners to enjoy the views from February 1st 2013.

Leaflets featuring images of people who had wet themselves were used to promote a summer sale for store group Harvey Nichols, using the strap line “Try to contain your excitement”.

The approach drew criticism from some customers who branded it “offensive” and “disgusting”, although Harvey Nichols described it as “light-hearted”.

Question is, would it make you more likely, or less likely to shop there? And has the store done itself any damage by associating its name with the images of incontinence?