41% of scams reported to the Citizens Advice service come from a cold call – making it the most common method of con reported to the national charity – followed by online scams at 18%.
Citizens Advice is today launching Scams Awareness Month highlighting how scams can flourish if they go unreported. The campaign, supported by Trading Standards, is urging people to get advice if they think they’ve been conned, and warn others to help stop scams from spreading.
The charity reveals that 46% of scams reported to local Citizens Advice were made by people over 55.
This has prompted a warning that pensioners and those approaching retirement age are more at risk of scams, particularly in light of the recent pension reforms. One 54-year old was contacted by a cold call offering to release money from her pension pot, and narrowly avoided losing £30,000.
Analysis of more than 20,000 scams reported between April 2014 and March 2015 also reveals that different types of scam use different methods to approach people:
- 37% of cold call scams reported to the national charity are for professional and financial services. One person was persuaded by a cold-caller to invest £100,000 into fine wines, only to find they were worth less than half the amount he paid.
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Two in five of all postal scams are lotteries or prize draws, inviting people to claim a prize for a competition they haven’t entered. A caller to Citizens Advice reported that a relative had been repeatedly targeted with prize draw scams, parting with more than £10,000 in fees to claim a prize that didn’t exist.
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Four out of five doorstep scams are to do with home improvements and household services. Common scams are aroundcentral heating, insulation and roofing, to gas and electricity supplies and people posing as tree surgeons. Cases include a man who was approached by a trader to fix the pointing on the roof, spending £300 in return for no work being done at all.
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Two in five internet scams are about personal goods and services including cosmetics that never arrive, beauty treatments that aren’t what they say on the tin and slimming pill subscription traps. Citizens Advice heard from one woman who tried a ‘free trial’ of slimming pills, only to find that £200 had been taken from her account during the trial.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Scams often prey on people’s most pressing needs. Bogus investments, fake debt remedies and fraudulent bank services can devastate people’s finances.
“The new pensions freedoms mean it is even more important that people think twice before responding to an unexpected call offering to release money from pensions or too-good-to-be true investments.
“Scams can thrive on silence. Con artists often try to pressure people into buying straight away, and not tell anyone about the deal. We’re urging people to talk about scams and report them to the authorities. This will stop scammers from getting away with it and avoid others falling foul of their cons.”