CHATTERBOX - Lochwinnoch
CHATTERBOX - Lochwinnoch
CHATTERBOX - Lochwinnoch
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of doomed pilots, navigators and<br />
crews.<br />
It's speculated that these cosmic<br />
forces included air ions, electromagnetic<br />
waves, atmospheric electrical<br />
fields, thermal radiation and sudden<br />
weather changes causing physical<br />
and psychological malfunctioning<br />
of the crew's human neuromuscular<br />
and cardio-vascular systems.<br />
Whatever the explanation, there is<br />
one thing I shall always remember<br />
from my time as a ranger at Muirshiel<br />
country park.<br />
And that was cycling home from<br />
work past the ruins of Heathfield<br />
Farm on dark winter nights when<br />
there wasn't a moon or star in the<br />
blackened skies - then looking at the<br />
forbidding building which was the<br />
moorland mortuary for the tragic<br />
team on the Swordfish aircraft.<br />
Derek Parker worked as a<br />
countryside ranger at Clyde<br />
Muirshiel Regional Park from<br />
1985 to 1999.<br />
USEFUL<br />
CONTACT NUMBERS<br />
Strathclyde Police –0141 532 5900<br />
Johnstone Police –01505 404000<br />
Johnstone Community Safety<br />
Office – 01505 404023<br />
Trading Standards 0141 840 3233<br />
Care and Repair – 0141 812 4111<br />
Renfrewshire Council -<br />
Tel: 0141 842 5000<br />
Anti-social Behaviour Investigation<br />
Team (ASIST) - 0141 840 2163<br />
Victim Support – 0141 887 0328<br />
Nuisance Support & Advice<br />
Helpline – 0800 169 1283<br />
Crimestoppers – 0800 555 111<br />
The Strathclyde Police website contains<br />
information on all of the local Community<br />
Policing Teams. Check out our website.<br />
www. strathclyde.police.uk<br />
for contact details of officers in your<br />
local Policing Team. You can also<br />
e-mail us from this website.<br />
SCAM WARNINGS<br />
COUNCIL TAX REFUNDS<br />
Renfrewshire Council has received<br />
reports from members of the public<br />
who have received suspicious calls,<br />
allegedly from the council’s Contact<br />
Centre. The caller tells the person<br />
that they are due a refund on their<br />
Council Tax and asks for the person’s<br />
bank details so that repayments<br />
can be made directly into<br />
their bank account. The fraudsters<br />
then use these bank details to<br />
empty out the victim’s bank account.<br />
Renfrewshire Council wish to confirm<br />
that they would never phone a<br />
customer and ask for their bank<br />
details. If a person is due a Council<br />
Tax refund, then this would be deducted<br />
from their next bill. If the<br />
refund was greater than the amount<br />
of the bill, a cheque would be sent<br />
to the customer.<br />
No reputable organisation would<br />
ask a customer for their bank details<br />
and any request for this information<br />
should always be treated<br />
with suspicion and reported to the<br />
Police.<br />
COMPUTERS<br />
Recently, Which? Computing magazine<br />
warned of a “cold calling scam”<br />
where people had been contacted by<br />
scammers purporting to be from<br />
Microsoft or an Internet Service<br />
Provider.<br />
The callers made people think that<br />
their computer had a virus and then<br />
took them through a series of steps<br />
to fix the computer “problem”. At<br />
the end of this process, the scammers<br />
then have remote access to the<br />
computer and, as if this wasn’t bad<br />
enough, people are then asked to<br />
provide their credit card details in<br />
order to pay a fee to have the computer<br />
“repaired” !<br />
This scam has been reported to the<br />
police e-crime unit and to Microsoft.<br />
The advice from Which? Computing<br />
is - Computer users must always be<br />
on their guard and suspicious of<br />
phone calls or e-mails that don’t<br />
come from a trustworthy source. If<br />
you have good security software,<br />
you should be protected from<br />
online threats.