Merstham residents ars being asked to help Surrey County Council’s trading standards team in the fight against scam mail by making February Scamnesty month.
Between 1 and 26 February 2010 there will be Scamnesty bins at the Merstham HelpShop on Portland Drive and the Age Concern building on Weldon Way for residents to dump their scam mail, giving trading standards the evidence they need to pursue the scammers. Trading standards officers will go through all the mail and wherever possible investigate and prosecute those responsible.
Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Kay Hammond, said: “Scam mail is a despicable way of conning people out of their money. Anyone can fall victim, but the elderly are particularly vulnerable and people have been known to lose their life savings before their realise their mistake. Sometimes they are then too embarrassed to say anything and the scammers go unpunished.
“Scamnesty month is aimed both at warning people about scam mail to help them avoid being sucked in, and at giving trading standards the weapons they need to wage the war against the scammers. I urge all our residents to make use of the bins to help them succeed. I also ask everyone with elderly relatives or people they care for to look out for them falling victim to a scam.”
As well as the bins, there will also be a website running during the month at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/scamnesty.This will contain further information on scams, advice on how to avoid them and a virtual map showing the bin locations. The website will also make it possible to report scam phone calls and forward scam emails.
Scams might include fake lottery and prize draw wins, investment cons and miracle health cures. Nearly half the adult UK population has been targeted by a scam, and more than three million adults – one in 15 people – fall victim to them, losing a total of £3.5 billion every year.
Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, said: “Many people feel they could never be scammed, however millions become victims. People of any age can be conned, but unfortunately unscrupulous fraudsters often target older people. The best defence is to know what to look out for, and always remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.”
Anyone can fall victim to a scam, particularly at this time of year when many people are feeling the pinch after Christmas. The mailings are cleverly worded and convince people, especially the vulnerable, that they are genuine and too good to miss. Usually there is then a demand for money to release the prize but nothing ever arrives. Worse still, people who reply are then put on a hit list that is circulated to other scammers so they will be targeted again.
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