Help and advice to avoid becoming the latest victim of a scam :
Elderly Victims of Scams
The OFT has launched a campaign to highlight the need for the elderly as well as their friends, family and carers to be alert to scams which causes misery to thousands of people each year.
OFT research has identified that the elderly lose twice as much per scam as others and potentially may lose their life savings as well as be affected by subsequent ill health.
The advice to the elderly includes:
· Discuss any offer with friends or relatives before replying
· Never send money to receive winnings or prizes
· Never provide bank details to people you don’t know
· 090 numbers are charged at a premium rate
· ignore psychic letters, good or bad luck letters and other chain letters and never send money off. If the person feels they must pass the letter on then send them to Consumer Protection.
The advice to friends, family and other carers includes:
· look out for warning signs such as a lot of junk mail being delivered (once a person has responded to a scam they will be put on a “suckers” list and be inundated with other bogus offers.
· Are lots of telephone calls from strangers being received?
· Has the person become unusually secretive about discussing finances?
Any discussions about scams however should be carried out in a way that doesn’t cause unnecessary alarm.
It is possible for any body including the elderly to be naïve about the existence of scams and the attempts of criminals to con them out of their money. It can be a delicate subject but to assist in this the OFT has published the following two leaflets which can be obtained from Consumer Protection or downloaded for free. Just click
on the following links;
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consumer_leaflets/general/oft972.pdf
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consumer_leaflets/general/oft973.pdf
Further advice on scams can be obtained from Consumer Direct Scotland.
Interactive guide on scam letters.
'The OFT has launched a series of interactive scam guides designed to help people avoid being tricked into losing money. The guides expose the clever tactics used by scammers and are the OFT’s latest tool in the fight against the scams that cost UK consumers £3.5 billion every year.
There are three interactive guides available – a ‘prize draw’ scam mailing, a bogus ‘lottery’ mailing and a fake ‘clairvoyant’ mailing, all similar to the type that drop onto the doormats of thousands of people across the UK every day. Each guide contains ‘pop-up’ text highlighting the tricks used by the scammers to convince people that the letters are genuine. For example, clairvoyant mailings use the recipient’s name over and over again, and include printed sections that look like they have been hand-written, when in fact the exact same letter will have been sent to thousands of other people at the same time.
Recent research conducted by the OFT indicates that foreign lottery, prize draw and clairvoyant scams cost consumers more than £350 million every year, with individuals being targeted repeatedly and sometimes losing tens of thousands of pounds. People receiving unsolicited mail that they suspect may be part of a scam can check it for the kinds of tricks explained in the OFT guides before responding, and others who suspect that relatives or friends are at risk can show them examples of what to watch out for.
Christine Wade, Assistant Chief Executive, Consumer Advice and Trading Standards said: 'Lottery, prize draw and clairvoyant scams can cause untold hurt and harm to the people who are deceived into responding. These guides show people the tricks that scammers regularly use and make it easier for people to protect themselves against scams.'
The interactive scams guides can be found on www.oft.gov.uk Consumers who are unsure about unsolicited mailings that they have received can contact Consumer Direct for clear, practical advice on 08454 04 05 06 or visit www.consumerdirect.gov.uk. before they part with any money.'
