News Room
Welcome to CTSI's News Room. Browse through our latest Consumer Protection and Trading Standards news reports (below), or take a look through our archive of news articles from previous years.
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One in three Brits targeted by a scammer so far during lockdown
Posted: 15/06/2020
Over a third of British adults (36%) have been the target of a scam since lockdown began, new research by Citizens Advice reveals.
Warning issued over KN95 facemasks
Posted: 12/06/2020
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned that KN95 facemasks are not suitable PPE.
Coronavirus: CTSI convenes roundtable on COVID-19 issues
Posted: 08/06/2020
Recognising the range of significant issues for consumers and business emerging from the COVID-19 crisis, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has taken the proactive step to convene a series of virtual roundtables with key consumer protection partners and stakeholders from consumer, business and regulator perspectives. Representatives from CTSI, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), NTS Scams, Moneysavingexpert.com, Citizens Advice (CitA), the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Which?, and Resolver have so far taken part.
Pandemic cancellations - beware ‘refund vouchers’ and ‘admin’ fees
Posted: 08/06/2020
Consumers who have tickets for cancelled flights, holidays and events must have their legal rights to a refund upheld, says London Trading Standards (LTS), who have today published advice to consumers on their website (http://www.londontradingstandards.org.uk).
CTSI warns scam website links to fake Trading Standards hotline
Posted: 05/06/2020
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) warns the public to be aware of bogus websites claiming to be a "Trading Standards Call Connection Service."
Trading Standards alert over 'test and trace' scammers
Posted: 03/06/2020
'Think before you click' scam alerts have been sounded by Trading Standards officers to try to head off scams in the wake of the launch of the Government's coronavirus Test & Trace system.
Millions of sub-standard masks and thousands of fake hand sanitisers seized at Heathrow
Posted: 01/06/2020
Trading standards teams at Heathrow Airport have stopped 6.5 million sub-standard face masks and 8,000 counterfeit hand sanitisers coming through the airport since the pandemic started, according to London Trading Standards (LTS).
Coronavirus guides help businesses during lockdown
Posted: 27/05/2020
A series of free government-backed guides have now been published by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to help guide businesses in those industries.
Beware pandemic profiteers and coronavirus crooks
Posted: 26/05/2020
London Trading Standards is warning Londoners to beware of unscrupulous traders seeking to profiteer from the coronavirus pandemic and criminal scammers exploiting the fears of the vulnerable.
Hundreds of consumer protection professionals trained to detect fake PPE
Posted: 22/05/2020
The Office for Product Safety & Standards (OPSS) and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) are delivering a series of webinars focussing on the identification and classification of PPE alongside identifying active ingredients and checking labelling and effectiveness claims.
Reluctance to seek medical care drives counterfeit medicine
Posted: 21/05/2020
People are buying prescription-based medicines over the internet rather than seek medical advice says Phil Lewis, Director General of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG).
98% of London businesses respecting lockdown
Posted: 18/05/2020
Most London businesses have so far respected the law on business closure, according to data from London borough enforcement teams. Just 2% of the businesses visited over the past two months have had to be instructed to close by local authority officers.