Page 36 - Londra Gazete Sayı 1112

Londra Gazete, 30 June 2022 LondraGazete.com/English 5

Camelot says people buying fewer

scratch cards as living costs rise

PEOPLE are buying fewer scratch
cards than before the pandem-
ic as living costs soar, the boss of
Camelot has said.
Nigel Railton, chief executive of
the outgoing UK National Lottery
operator, said there had been a
"slight bubble" around scratch cards
during the pandemic which has now
"reversed".
Royal Mail workers to vote nual sales dropped by £283.2m to
It came as Camelot revealed an-
on strike over pay £8.1bn.
The firm said it was seeing signs
that players had "tightened their
MORE than 115,000 Royal Mail household budgets and workers and belts".
workers will begin voting on Tues- unions are pushing for pay rises to Camelot, which has run the Na-
day over whether to go on strike over cope with them. But the government tional Lottery since it was launched,
pay. Ballot papers will be dispatched has warned against employers hand- recently started legal proceedings
to the Communication Workers Un- ing out big increases in salaries over against the Gambling Commission led to "greater competition for peo- "There was a slight bubble around
ion (CWU) members, with the result fears of a 1970s style "inflationary after losing out on the next licence. ple's attention and spend", as well as scratch cards and games in retail
on 19 July. spiral", where firms hike wages and Rival Allwyn was selected as the "growing economic uncertainty". during Covid and that reversed, and
If workers back action, the CWU then pass the cost on to customers preferred applicant for the lottery's The cost of living crisis had also because we have 44,000 retail-
says it could amount to the biggest through higher prices. next licence, which starts in 2024. slowed down the retail recovery as ers, we saw a change in people's buy-
Camelot said its sales decline for "consumers tightened their belts", ing behaviour," he said.
ever strike by its members. Royal Britain's railways were disrupt- the year ending 31 March was pri- Camelot said. "So scratch cards decreased by a
Mail says there are "no grounds" for marily driven by a £240m fall in Mr Railton told the BBC's Today couple of 100 million [pounds] in
strike action. The CWU is the latest ed when thousands of RMT Union sales of National Lottery Instants. programme the company had seen a the year." He said sales of scratch
of several unions to ballot for strikes members walked out last week and It blamed this on the lifting of shift in consumer behaviour follow- cards are now "well below" pre-pan-
in recent weeks as the cost of liv- hundreds of British Airways workers lockdown restrictions, which it said ing the pandemic. demic levels.
ing soars. Prices are rising at their at Heathrow Airport have also voted
fastest pace for 40 years, with UK to go on strike over their wages.
inflation at 9.1%, the highest rate Separately, 114 Post Offices are to
since March 1982. Higher costs for be closed on 11 July when workers Fraudsters
fuel, energy and good are biting into strike over pay.
target under-35s on social media

Airbnb permanently bans parties
RULES PEOPLE under 35 are of the banking system", through
A type of fraud where people were
and events around the world becoming the "prime target" for online and social media platforms. duped into sending money and per-
scammers tricking them into trans- The type of scams criminals were sonal details surged 39% in 2021
AIRBNB has permanently banned The firm said "several types of larg- ferring money through social me- using against people was evolving, compared with 2020 to £583m, UK
parties and events at homes on its er homes are capable of comfortably dia platforms including WhatsApp. the industry body said. finance said.
platform, after a temporary measure and safely housing more than 16 A banking industry body said in- Fake delivery texts asking for This kind of fraud, known as
during the pandemic proved popular people - from castles in Europe to telligence suggested younger peo- payment or NHS Covid-19 pass Authorised Push Payment fraud
with hosts. vineyards in the US to large beach- ple were particularly hit by scams scams during the height of the pan- (APP) - when victims think they are
The firm says the rule has become front villas in the Caribbean". that played on their trust. demic were now being replaced by paying a genuine organisation - is
"much more than a public health "Removing this cap is meant to al- UK Finance also warned that en- schemes focusing on cost-of-living on the rise, and outstripped fraud
losses on bank and credit cards,
measure" since it was introduced in low those hosts to responsibly utilise ergy bill deal and tax scams were challenges, it said. which fell by 7% in 2021, for the
Criminals were now posing as dif-
August 2020. the space in their homes while still becoming more common as the ferent organisations ranging from first time.
cost of living rises.
"It developed into a bedrock com- complying with our ban on disrup- Criminals were "building on peo- the NHS, to banks and government Overall, £1.3bn, the most on re-
munity policy to support our hosts tive parties," it said. ple's fears" of rising prices, it said. departments via phone calls, text cord, was stolen through fraud in
and their neighbours," the San Fran- The company started putting The banking industry body said messages, emails, fake websites 2021, an 8% increase from the year
cisco-headquartered firm said. restrictions on parties in 2019. It that while people of all age groups and social media posts. before.
However, it also removed a lim- banned "open-invite" parties and are falling victim to scams, "it is
it on how many people can stay at so-called "chronic party houses" that younger age groups that are often
homes. were a nuisance to neighbours. the prime target".
Airbnb said in a statement that the During the pandemic, Airbnb in- "Our research found that people
number of complaints about parties troduced an indefinite ban on parties under 35 are more likely than older
dropped by 44% since the measure "in the best interest of public health". age groups to have been targeted
was first introduced. More than 6,600 guests had also in an impersonation scam and be
Exceptions to the global ban may been suspended from using the plat- swayed to provide personal or fi-
be made for "specialty and tradition- form last year for breaking the rules. nancial information," it said.
Data from Barclays this month
al hospitality venues" in the future, it "This new and long-term policy also showed people aged 21-30
added. was enacted to help encourage and were the most likely age group
Airbnb also said it would remove support community safety," Airbnb to fall victim to scams, due to the
a limit on the number of people its said. the majority taking place on social
listings are allowed to accommodate "We look forward to sharing up- media, shopping sites and dating
at any one time. dates in the coming weeks and apps.
It previously imposed a 16 person months on our efforts to comple- UK Finance added that con art-
limit to occupants because of con- ment our community policies on ists were targeting all age groups
cerns over the spread of Covid-19. parties," it added. by exploiting "weaknesses outside