Direct Debits and CWC Services

Written by Administrator on .

If you or a family member has found a regular monthly Direct Debit payment in the name of CWC Services on your bank statement, we would like to assure you that this has nothing to do with our company despite the apparently similar business name. We have contacted Action Fraud (a division of the UK police) and registered a complaint with them, but they are unable to act further without direct contact from victims themselves. They have however advised us to post the following information for members of the public, so please read on for more information and guidance as to what you can do...

We have been contacted a number of times by distressed members of the public who have had direct debits set up on their bank for between £50 and £100 per month, without any idea what the payments are for. In some cases, the individual has cancelled the DD only to find that it has reappeared again on their bank.

The direct debits appear often appear in the name of CWC Services Ltd or Limited. Our company name is QGS Holdings Ltd., and we operate under the trading name of CWC Services (without the word 'limited'). This is a perfectly normal practice, for example insurance company Admiral Insurance is a trading name of EUI Limited.

We have investigated further and found CWC Services Ltd. on companies house (click here to view). We believe this is the company responsible for setting up these direct debits. It appears that they have no website, phone number or contact details, and their registered office address is a 'dropbox-style' address in Ipswich. Without further information we are left in little doubt that this is likely to be a scam, because:

  1. In all cases we have been contacted by elderly people or concerned relatives
  2. Cancelled direct debits often seem to get reinstated by the company
  3. Victims never have any idea what the direct debit is for
  4. The company CWC Services Ltd. appears completely un-contactable except by post
  5. We started receiving complaints around June 2020, and the company CWC Services Ltd. formed in January 2020 under its original company name 'Clear Drainage Solutions Limited'

What you can do

  1. Immediately call your bank and cancel the direct debit. Indicate to them that this may be a scam and instruct them that no further DD's should be set up for the company CWC Services or any variation on that name
  2. Total up any DD payments you have made so far and inform the bank of the total. Many banks will refund DD's that have been set up without prior knowledge or authority from an individual, especially if it looks like a scam
  3. If the DD reappears, contact the bank again and ask them to take steps to ensure that these DD's cannot be set up again. That may involve cancelling and issuing a new debit card, or in the worst case changing your bank account number
  4. If you wish to take further action, file a case with Action Fraud and in your report mention case number NFRC220305065397, which is a case we have filed with them. You can also link them to this page on our website. Cases can be filed online, or you can contact Action Fraud by telephone (click above website link for freephone number).
  5. You can also telephone the local police by dialling 101.

About our company

CWC Services (not Limited) are a trading name of QGS Holdings Ltd. (view on Companies House). We produce documentation systems - digital and paper based logbooks, evacuation and triage cards, for use by the NHS, First Responders and Emergency Managers amongst others. We rarely sell our products directly to the public, and have never set up any direct debits to take payment for our products or services.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience and distress caused. Despite being nothing to do with us, we are deeply sympathetic and would like to help in any way possible to put a stop to this kind of opportunistic fraud.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you would like further help or support.