Not enough protection against scams for older people
"People's lives are being ruined ", says Age Cymru
OLDER people in Wales do not receive enough protection from scams.
That is the major conclusion of a new report,' Scams and Swindles 2', published by Wales' largest older people's charity Age Cymru.
More work needs to be done by government and the private sector to protect older people from fraudsters' attacks through the post, telephone, online and on their doorsteps, says the charity.
It calls on MPs and AMs to be more active in tackling the damage scams do to older and vulnerable people's lives.
Direct mail companies should stop sending out misleading prize promotions that cheat vulnerable people into thinking they have won large sums of money; telephony companies should provide call blocking equipment to older and vulnerable people and the Welsh Government should take control of the process of setting up No Cold Calling Zones to help keep out rogue traders.
The charity also calls on police and enforcement authorities to standardise recording of scam fraud to show the scale of the problem and to work harder to reduce the stigma of being scammed and support victims more.
"All of the authorities and big businesses need to do more to protect older and vulnerable customers and service users," said Gerry Keighley, campaigns officer for Age Cymru.
"Relying on awareness raising among vulnerable people is simply not enough.
"Up to £10bn is being lost to scammers every year and the problem is growing.
"People's lives are being ruined."
The charity is also supporting a call from its sister charity Age UK for a national scams task force to be set up by the UK government.
View a copy of the ‘Scams and Swindles 2' report by visiting www.agecymru.org.uk/scamsandswindles
Older people in Wales do not receive enough protection from scams - that is the major conclusion of our new report,' Scams and Swindles 2'.
More work needs to be done by government and the private sector to protect older people from fraudsters' attacks through the post, telephone, online and on their doorsteps.
Our report calls on MPs and AMs to be more active in tackling the damage scams do to older and vulnerable people's lives.
Direct mail companies should stop sending out misleading prize promotions that cheat vulnerable people into thinking they have won large sums of money; telephony companies should provide call blocking equipment to older and vulnerable people and the Welsh Government should take control of the process of setting up No Cold Calling Zones to help keep out rogue traders.
We also call on police and enforcement authorities to standardise recording of scam fraud to show the scale of the problem and to work harder to reduce the stigma of being scammed and support victims more.
"All of the authorities and big businesses need to do more to protect older and vulnerable customers and service users," said Gerry Keighley, our campaigns officer.
"Relying on awareness raising among vulnerable people is simply not enough.
"Up to £10bn is being lost to scammers every year and the problem is growing.
"People's lives are being ruined."
The charity is also supporting a call from its sister charity Age UK for a national scams task force to be set up by the UK government.
Download a copy of the the ‘Scams and Swindles 2' report.
