Cruel Scam

[Bugs]

TF

Thanks for sharing this.

I’ve passed it on through various channels that I have access to

Bugs

[Tigerfish]

Thanks Bugs!

TF

[bessacarr425]

That may be true Dianne but I just wanted to take every opportunity to frustrate these low life’s that prey on the elderly.
Bessie did make a valid point though, and I guess that I do get a tad aggressive when fighting crime. I always have and probably always will.

TF

Aggression against criminals is good.    Aggression against fellow forum members is unacceptable.  Learn to separate the two so that this can remain a friendly forum.

[Jaydug]

Personally I wouldn’t think there are that many older people on the Internet receiving emails that are not aware of these scams and what to do about them.

I had birthday number 91 yesterday and if I roll through my text messages for the past three or four weeks, I have several scam messages. First is one from 07956 035034 purporting to be from LLoyds telling me a payment was attempted from a device and if it wasnt me, to visit https://helpdesk-bankdetails.com Then another from 07930 727302 from UKGOV. Telling me I was eligible for a Covid-19 grant - link followed. Messages also supposedly from Paypal telling me they had limited my account. Another from HSBC. So many, in fact, that I'm convinced that there are for sale on the dark web, lists of elderly peoples' phone details.
If what I believe is true, then they've wasted their money in buying a list with my number on it. I couldn't be more suspicious of texts and emails.

[Tigerfish]

Good for you Jaydug!

TF

[AlfiesDad]

There are bound to be a small percentage of vulnerable elderly people who are susceptible to fraud, indeed, there are younger people who we would class as "tech savvy" who have had their bank accounts raided.

I would tend to agree with Dianne however, the majority of elderly recipients would treat these emails, phone calls and texts with great suspicion and delete or hang up and block the numbers.

My phone does alert me if I receive a strange incoming number and asks if I would like to block it.
Unfortunately, it is a problem that is conducive with modern day tech, and the speed with which low life criminals can compose such scams. All we can do is be very vigilant and keep a close eye on our friends and family that may be vulnerable.
There are agencies that you can report these scams to, I have done in the past, but haven't received any feedback from them, making me think that they are a toothless waste of time.

[Tigerfish]

That’s true AD. I also agree re the so called agencies that we are told to report scams to - they never seem to give feedback.

TF

[DianneT]

I always report these Scams but I suspect the business/organisations are overwhelmed with emails coming in so cannot actually answer them

[bessacarr425]

I've reported a few scams and the company concerned have always sends an email thanking me for drawing the scam to their attention. That's good enough for me. I don't need any more info.