North Yorkshire residents are being warned about the dangers of phone and mail frauds after recent cases of vulnerable adults in the county being targeted by fraudsters.
The alert comes from the Operation Gauntlet team, a multi-agency body that targets frauds and scams against elderly and vulnerable residents and safeguards residents against such crimes.
The team, which was established in 2015, is hosted by North Yorkshire County Council Trading Standards and includes trading standards staff, a North Yorkshire Police detective and a safeguarding officer from the County Council’s Health and Adult Services. It targets all forms of fraud, including scam mail, phone frauds, doorstep crime and distraction burglaries.
Only two weeks ago, an elderly woman received a phone call to both her landline and mobile numbers. The caller claimed to be a police sergeant from Hull. The fraudster said he was part of an undercover operation and that two men had been arrested. They were suspected of withdrawing £16,000 in cash from victim’s bank account before replacing it with counterfeit money. He told her they believed someone in the victim’s bank may be involved and that they needed the victim’s help. The victim was asked to go to her bank and withdraw £9,200 in cash in the hope this would provide evidence of the counterfeit money. The victim withdrew the money, believing she was speaking to a genuine police officer. She then handed the money to a man who came to her home.
To protect residents from this kind of phone fraud, the team installs digital call-blocking devices in the homes of victims and those at high risk to stop fraudulent calls being received. The devices, funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Community Fund, are highly effective. The team has installed 114 devices. These have received 51,100 scam calls, of which 50,550 (over 98%) were successfully blocked. On average, the residents had 36 scam calls a month to their devices. In one case, a vulnerable adult received 125 calls a month. The data shows that 42% of calls to the devices were scam calls.
Surveys of people protected by the devices show:
- 92% of residents were concerned about losing money before the devices were installed;
- 96% of residents say the devices have helped them to live safely in their own homes; and
- 92% say the devices have improved their quality of life.
The team also visits residents suspected of being targeted by mail frauds. In one case, a woman in her 90s was answering prize draw frauds for the chance to win tens of thousands of pounds. For a chance to win she had to buy a variety of pills and other products claiming to treat or prevent multiple health issues. In the woman’s home, officers found 185 different products containing more than 8,500 pills.
The products included claims of:
- helping to promote weight loss;
- maintaining normal vision;
- “Skin Youth” supplement;
- helping you feel more energetic;
- supporting the immune system; and
- mental and cognitive functions food supplement.
The victim had been defrauded of at least £5,000 through these frauds. She had been supplied with so many tablets of one type that she couldn’t possibly take them all before the expiry dates.
The Operation Gauntlet team also works with community groups, victims and potential victims of these frauds to help them to protect themselves and prevent financial losses.
Criminal investigations by the team have resulted in prosecutions and recovery of assets gained from crime to compensate victims. Between July 2016 to September 2017, 25 offenders were convicted, resulting in prison sentences totalling more than 33 years. In the same period, more than £200,000 was returned to victims.
Since that time, further significant investigations by the team have resulted in 18 offenders now being in the court system on four cases. They await trials at Crown Court for a variety of doorstep crime frauds.
County Councillor Andrew Lee, Executive Member for Trading Standards, said: “Trading Standards, together with our partners, treat these matters as a top priority to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. Sadly, there remain many determined and ruthless offenders who make it their career to defraud vulnerable adults in a variety of ways. Phone calls, doorstep calls and mail still represent the biggest threat to vulnerable adults in our county. We continue to find new ways of tackling these frauds and protecting our vulnerable residents and, with partners, we are committed to tackling these appalling crimes, which have a significant detrimental impact on victims, over and above their financial losses.”
Anyone in North Yorkshire who believes they may be a victim of these frauds, thinks a vulnerable adult they know is at risk or requires advice to protect themselves or others should contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service as soon as possible on 03454 040506 to request contact from the Operation Gauntlet team at North Yorkshire Trading Standards.
The Police or any other official organisation will never ask you to withdraw your money. If you are suspicious of any phone call or are worried do not take any risks. Hang up the phone and either:
- Phone 999 or your bank from a different phone (because the offender may stay connected to the phone they contacted you on and pretend to be your bank or the police), or
- Wait five minutes, then phone 999 or your bank from the same phone (the offender will have been disconnected by this time).