I'd just like to post a little warning today following a scam my sister just fell foul of. Luckily she wasn't harmed and didn't lose too much money, but she won't report this to the police as she feels embarrassed and ashamed for some reason, and I must say that I always thought she was very savvy and street-wise and am actually surprised that she fell for it.
But if people won't tell the police, they won't know, so I thought I'd just post something here as together we can try to help stop this happening.
Late one evening recently my sister answered a buzz at the door (which I think is crazy to begin with), to find a young man who had 'lost his wallet and needed money to take a TAXI to his grandmother's house'. He somehow knew the name of my sister's neighbour, naming her and said he'd tried there for help but everyone was out!
(Of course in these days of mobile phones, no-one needs this sort of assistance and especially when a taxi fare is mentioned, but of course no scammer wants just to receive bus fare!)
Anyway to cut a long story short, my sister felt sorry for him and parted with £25 which she will never see again, and realised soon afterwards, when it was too late, that it was a scam.
I've since found out that a similar story was recently being peddled around Bath and Somerset, but in that case the perpetrator was also gaining access to blocks of flats, to target even more vulnerable people at a time.
So please be vigilant yourselves and try to make quite sure that any vulnerable person you care for knows never to answer the door to strangers.
I know it's easier said than done. My sister and I dinned it into my mum never to engage with strangers at the door, but as she became more vulnerable she too once fell foul of someone claiming to have seen tiles falling off her roof and scammed her out of £200 pretending he would fix it there and then.
Sadly those people with no conscience or morals will never completely go away but I hope we can help each other to keep vulnerable people safer from them.
Sorry to hear that your sister was scammed, this is a typical way of getting money and sadly the elderly get targeted. There are many scams that are going on at the moment, you can sign up to your local police force for updates on local scams. I have a dummy camera outside in my front porch it was £6 from Amazon and I have a sign which says no cold callers. It’s amazing how the callers have stopped.
I am a local Neighbour hood Watch coordinator for about 20 houses, everything is done online where we all find out about scams and local burglaries etc. And my neighbours are quite vigilant and look out for me as I have mobility issues.
Unfortunately it’s not easy stopping people opening doors to these unscrupulous scoundrels, we just need to make it more difficult for them.
Thanks so much for your swift response and concern for my sister. I think the dummy camera is an absolutely excellent idea as a deterrent and I'm going to phone my sister right now and suggest it to her. She does use Amazon, so it'll be easily obtained for her.
Scams are getting more complicated. Now the people who phone me seem to have a new ploy.
Get cross.
If I don't want them to rescue me from whatever they say is wrong ( and I don't because I dont trrust them) they get cross and upset because all they are doing is trying to help and I won't let them. Devious load of turds.
Good post Callendersgal and I do feel for your sister. Some people are so very plausible and genuine. My mum who was very savvy was caught out by someone saying her lead flashing was in a poor state. She was caught by surprise as trying to get ready to go out. Can’t remember the cost now but I recall how embarrassed she felt.
We all need to be aware so thanks for the reminder. Xxx
There were men knocking on doors selling conservatories around 3 in the afternoon at school pickup time, so houses empty. They were quite dodgy, called the police, they scarpered fast cos people in weren’t taken in by them.
That is dreadful but not unexpected,these people have no morals or decency at all,and I hate to say it,but even some people we know have no guilt in ripping you off,as I know to my cost.
It is impossible to trust anyone,and if you are a carer its easy to become vulnerable to anyone as the constant unrelenting pressure makes us more easy to con.
I have a video door bell so I don't even have to shift from my sofa! links to my mobile phone - not cheap but makes me feel a lot safer 'cos ''hard to move'' days are catered for too
mine is Spanish but but this is something very similar =
believe it or not, I still get UK scam phone calls because my VOIP number is UK (for work) - seriously considering buying a noisy whistle to blow down the line - would work with video doorbell too I guess
Thanks so much for that and I'll also pass that link onto my sister. (Luckily in the block of flats I live in it's A) very difficult for strangers to get in and B) we have 'spyholes' in our doors as well as a video entry system, so I'm hoping I won't ever need to upgrade my own security. But a video doorbell sounds great.
I'm not suggesting this seriously as a deterrence but I did smile when an acquaintance mentioned it yesterday. She has a method of her own for all nuisance telephone callers. When they ask brightly "and how are you today?", she tells them.... in no uncertain terms, so that they can't get a word in edgeways. All about her 'gammy' hip and knees, the cold she's had for three weeks, insomnia, her headache; anything she can think of. She says that callers often get impatient and hang up. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone else, as scammers are such nasty people it would be too easy to forget your script and get caught up in the conversation, but purely for her, I think she's got a really good strategy.
Thank you Callendarsgal for this very timely reminder, particularly at this time of the year. Is there any way that you could ring the police on your sister's behalf to flag this up with them so that they can be aware of this scam going on in her area to protect other people. You are right scanners have no sense of morals and particularly prey on the vulnerable. I would just suggest that everybody checks on their elderly friends, family and neighbours, to advise them of not responding to scammers whether they're on the phone, emails, on the doorstep. Maybe help the right down rehearse a simple script that they can say to these people. We had to do this with a vulnerable family member who found it difficult not to give away his bank details over the phone through pressure selling.
Best wishes,
MAS Nurse and Moderator
Hi MAS_Nurse. My sister lives outside my own police area but I managed to find the internet site 'National Fraud & Cybercrime Reporting Centre, called ActionFraud which is run by the City of London Police for national cases of fraud, on and offline. So I've passed the details on to them. It doesn't investigate itself but gathers information and passes it on to police forces nationally. So I do hope that will help stop others suffering the same thing, especially at this time of year which is supposed to be the season of goodwill, but sadly, so often, seems to be quite the reverse.
It was going on up north too THINK they look for houses with handles and ramps.
Some even scratch at door so as not to wake others up.
Needless to say when I open door to scammer and told them what to go and do THE did get the shock of the life.
Was reported to police next morning so could warn others in area.
thank you for this. can I further suggest that a land=line handset that screens calls is very useful. I think it's called call guardian and is available from the big name suppliers, inc Robert dyas. it allows you to accept only the calls you wish, and is about £50, quite simple to set up. So it cuts out all the cold-callers, and can then block them. you key in the people you wish to accept, others have to leave a message which your can hear instantly, then choose to accept, reject, block, or add to phone book., or just ignore. the caller does not know if you are in or not. I have not explained it very well. but everyone I know who has seen it, gets it, and is happy with it. best wishes and happy telephoning.
Thanks Lucens, really helpful. Also check with your landline provider whether they provide a similar service. Sky certainly does and it's free to anyone who has a landline contract with them.
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