SCAM Warning
3rd of November, 2023
A warning received from Age UK
There is a devastating amount of elderly people being scammed in East Lancs.
The scammers are impersonating police officers and asking elderly people who live independently to draw out large amounts of cash or purchase expensive watches from Jewellers as part of a police operation.
Sadly one gentleman has been scammed out of £40,000. All of this life savings are diminished and he is traumatised. This happened this week in Accrington.
What to do:
Report to Action Fraud and then you know the person has been included on a “victim list” sent to Lancashire Constabulary’s Economic Crime Unit for safeguarding purposes.
Register with CIFAS who will red flag their personal details, so that they cannot be used for fraudulent purposes. CIFAS is made up of several financial organisations who have come together to safeguard an individual’s personal information. So, for instance, if a fraudster tries to take out a loan in the person’s name it would be triggered via the credit reference check and CIFAS would contact them to make sure that it was genuinely them taking out the loan and not someone else. There’s a charge of £25 for 2 years.
Victim Support can provide help and advice as well as emotional support, so please contact them if need be.
Arrange a mutually convenient date and time to have a trueCALL device fitted to the landline. Please check out the link to read about its capabilities. The units are currently provided free-of-charge by Lancashire Constabulary to vulnerable victims of fraud.
Contact
https://www.cifas.org.uk/individuals