Older people living alone are some of the most vulnerable to becoming victims of scams and fraud. Last year, hundreds of our older people told us about their fear of being scammed and how this restricts the things they do, such as answering the telephone or using the internet.
One person who fell victim to scammers was a 78-year-old widow, Dorothy* whose husband of more than 50 years had just died. She was conned out of £100,000, although she was fortunate enough to get nearly all of it back.
This is how it unfolded.
“One day the phone rang. I answered and someone said they were from my bank and that there was unusual activity on my account and I should withdraw my money and place it somewhere else”, said Dorothy.
“I was incredibly vulnerable at that point because of the death of my husband and so I wasn’t thinking so clearly. I did as they asked and wrote out a couple of cheques. Then when I realized what had happened I got in touch with my bank.
“Unfortunately they were not particularly interested. They said I had signed the various cheques and really that was all there was to it. They couldn’t help me. I felt terrible. It was an extremely alarming situation.
“Thankfully my daughter got involved and we went back and forth to the bank but they refused to take any responsibility. Then she contacted the Financial Ombudsman and they started to help. Thankfully I eventually got all the money back apart from a few pounds.”
The scam took place in 2019 and it was only in January this year (2022) that Dorothy was compensated.
“It’s an absolutely awful experience and something I still find very difficult to talk about,” she added. “But I would caution anyone unfortunate enough to get caught out like this to keep a written record of what happened and when. It will help when you are asked all the questions about the scam.
“I now have a telephone interception service so I don’t get unwanted calls and I would advise anyone who may feel vulnerable to do the same.
“It was a terrible experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
*Not her real name.
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