Campaign to protect elderly in Shropshire from scams

Public protection officers have joined forces with a home care company to spread the word after being presented with a list of 640 people who had been approached by fraudsters across the county.

The National Trading Standards Scam Team, which compiled the list, said the worst known case saw an elderly man who was pressured into trying to sell his home eventually defrauded of £100,000.

Home Instead Senior Care Telford, Newport and Bridgnorth has launched a senior fraud protection programme to educate its care workers about the tell-tale signs.

The course will teach employees what to look out for when visiting clients' homes and to raise awareness among families and the wider community by distributing booklets and giving talks.

The company will work with public protection officers from Shropshire Council who have educated staff on how to identify scams and victims.

Company director Jenny Ballantine said: "Scammers prey on older members of society who risk losing their life savings to these despicable people.

"The large amount of money lost by some victims is truly shocking. Older people who are lonely and live on their own and those with dementia are particularly vulnerable."

Public protection officer Debbie Cooper said organised criminals were targeting the elderly through elaborate mail and telephone scams.

"Typical are lottery and prize draw scams where the victims are told they have won a large cash prize but are asked to send a fee to release it or make purchases of poor quality items, such as food and health supplements sold at exorbitant prices," she said.

Once someone responds to a scam mailshot they're details are placed on a "mug" list and the information is sold around the world.

She added: "One elderly lady in Shropshire was targeted in a lottery scam and ended up sending £26,000 by post office transfers. A man in north Shropshire lost £100,000 and was about to sell his house when his family stepped in. He was doing it in the mistaken belief that he stood to increase his children's inheritance.

"Fraudsters are targeting predominantly the retirement generation. Senior citizens are most likely to have a 'nest egg', to own their own home and have excellent credit, all of which make them attractive to con artists.

"Tell-tale signs to look out for are a lot of junk mail around the home, food or health supplements that are not labelled correctly and piles of envelopes bound in elastic bands with deadline dates written on them."