It has been reported that a specialist anti-fraud unit has brought to light titanic losses of £13m within a so-called “scammers list”. The report claims this figure is spread across 200,000 fraud victims who are more than likely to be elderly.
Scams have included fake special offers and prize draws, with the average person losing more than £1,100.
One victim told Sky News how he was inundated with offers after joining a scheme to buy products including cakes”.
Graham Hay, who is 78, said: “I was receiving letters. And if I bought them I was in the running for a big cheque of £164,806.60p. There it was ‘won by Mr Graham Hay’ it said but I had to wait.”
He described how the offers then piled up: “I just fell into it. It got into a bit of a routine. I even ran out of cheques.
“This went on for about 10 months then the Post Office alerted Trading Standards and they came to my door and said it’s a con, it’s a scam.
“You feel a bit of a twit. You get caught up in it. I want to warn other people: don’t do it.”
The NTSST said it had managed to directly stop at least £2.7m from making its way into the hands of criminals and its support for local trading standards teams had led to further savings of £2.3m.
The supposed “scammers list” is said to have been uncovered by the National Trading Standards Scams Team (NTSST) who spent 3 years cracking down on scammers. This list is believed to have been formed using details of people who have had previous deals within that market.
Lord Toby Harris, chair of NTSST, said: “To have saved consumers more than £5m in three years is a great achievement and shows the powerful effect the National Trading Standards Scams Team is having.
“However, we know our work is not done. Criminal scammers are targeting some of the most vulnerable people in society – ripping them off in many cases for thousands of pounds.
“We are going to continue in our fight to protect consumers and we urge you to help us by reporting suspected cases of postal fraud to the Royal Mail.”
A joint initiative – aimed at identifying bogus material – has resulted in 2,000 postal staff being trained to date while scam victims, including a woman from Wales who lost her life savings, have also been helped via partner agencies to spot fake marketing.
Louise Baxter, who leads the NTSST, added: “We really need the public to help us with this – by being vigilant about mass marketing scams themselves but also looking out for relatives or neighbours, particularly those who are elderly or vulnerable.
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