The shocking rise in scams targeting vulnerable Scots

New figures seen by the Herald reveal that in the last two years the number of Scots who have reported being scammed has risen by 35% in just two years from 1279 to 1722.

And the number of over 75s that have reported being subject of fraud has risen by 62% according to the data provided by Action Fraud, the UK's police reporting centre. In the first six months of the 2016/17 financial year there were 270 worried calls from the elderly, but over the same period in 2018 that had risen to 438.

The analysis has revealed that over one in three of the 1722 scams reported by over 55s between April and September, 2018, were advance fee frauds. The scams involve fraudsters targeting victims to make advance or upfront payments for goods, services and or financial gains that do not materialise.

Just under one in seven was classed as computer software service fraud, which involves the victim being told there is problem with their computer, which for a fee can be resolved. When the fraudster gains remote access to the victim's computer they use sensitive personal information to access online banking accounts.

Experts say that the true scale of the problem is likely to be far higher, as many suffer in silence.

Five years ago Scots were offered a master classes in how to protect themselves against online fraudsters in a new anti-cyber scamming initiative run by police and the prosecution service.

READ MORE: Elderly learn how they can foil online fraudsters

And today a new report by Citizens Advice Scotland reveals that nearly half of people in Scotland say they have been the target of scams at least once in the last year. Of these one in three were targeted more than three times.

The figures, based on a survey by YouGov, are published by CAS as it launches its Scams Awareness Campaign 2019.

The campaign runs for the next two weeks and aims to tackle stigma among Scots about reporting scams, urging them to stop, report and talk about them.

Launching the campaign, Citizens Advice Scotland Chief Executive Derek Mitchell, said: “Let’s get one thing clear. A scam is a crime. It is fraud. In other words, it is theft. Whether they managed to take money from you or not, the person who scammed you is guilty of a crime, and they need to be reported to the police so they can be stopped.

“I have a message for scammers; We are on to you. We are tracking your methods and finding more and more ways to beat you.

“But the biggest allies in the fight against scams are the people of Scotland. When we come across a scam, regardless of whether it impacts upon us, we need to stop, report it and talk about it to our friends and family.

“Scammers depend on us staying silent. The more we talk about them, the more aware people become, and the harder they will find it to scam the next person.

Further analysis of Citizens Advice Scotland’s internal database also reveals a huge surge in people turning to local CABs for help and advice on scams.

In 2018/19 the Scottish CAB network gave out 1,038 pieces of advice about scams - a rise of 86 per cent from 2017/18.

And the number of scam reports to them more than doubled between 2017/18 to 2018/19 The YouGov study showed that the most common methods of scam identified were email (38%), telephone (42%) and online (10%).

Most Scots (71%) believe those hit by scams should not be embarrassed about it, and 82% say the main reason for scams is that scammers are clever in the way they present themselves.

Last month, police in East Lothian In October, last year, an 82-year-old man was conned out of £38,000 after being duped into believing that there had been attempts to remove large sums of money from his bank account and that he should remove it to avoid losing it.

The Dumfries man ended up being scammed after the caller falsely said he was a local police officer and that arrangements would were being made to hand the cash over to a courier.

Police Scotland's Dumfries and Galloway Police Division said that the caller had gained the trust of the victim over the week and ended up taking over £38,000 has been taken.

In the same month in West Lothian, fraudsters called a 26-year-old woman who lives in Armadale, convinced her that they were from her bank and persuaded her and her husband to transfer almost £40,000 into bogus accounts.

The previous month Tayside Police Division was warning of a new type of phone scam, they described as “courier fraud" after an 88-year-old from Dundee was scammed out of £7,000.

The pensioner took a call from a man stating he was from Edinburgh and that he was dealing with fraud in her area and that he was investigating bank employees who are potentially tampering with cash transactions.

The next day, the complainer received a phone call from the same man who informed her to go to her bank and withdraw £4,000.

He explained that she was to do this so that he could analyse the cash notes for fingerprints in order to catch the apparent employee who he claimed was tampering with cash transactions.

The caller explained to the complainer that once she had withdrawn the requested cash he would send a “courier” to her to collect the cash.

The pensioner told police that a man she believed was foreign arrived to take the money and left.

The next day she was convinced to hand over a further £3000 after being told there had been a positive result from an examination of her notes.

When she was called again and asked by the caller if any of her neighbours were customers of the same bank and how old were they, she brought this to the attention of a neighbour, who told her this was a scam.

Kelly Parry, chairman of the board of Trading Standards Scotland which is backing the CAS campaign said: “Scammers are extremely manipulative and are always on the lookout for new ways to con consumers out of money be it on the doorstep, by telephone, by mail or using the internet.

“Stay vigilant, if you are contacted and offered unsolicited goods or services and remember doesn’t feel rushed into making a decision. If you think you have been caught out by scammers, don’t suffer in silence and make sure you report your concerns. You are not alone; there is help and advice available.

Case Study

A nanny from Dunblane has urged people not to suffer in silence having suffered at the hands of would-be fraudsters who had managed to hack into her bank account through her mobile phone.

Alexandra Dobson, 44, said someone had managed to get an authorisation code for her mobile phone and used that to gain access to her internet banking managing to move some savings from one account to another. They also moved her phone account to a new provider.

“The first I knew of this was when I suddenly lost my phone signal," she said.

"When I contacted the phone company they told me to check with my bank, and it’s a good job I did because that was when I found out what was happening.

"I had to go to the bank and prove who I was, and thankfully they were able to stop the activity before I lost any money, but it was a really close run thing and it’s very worrying that this could happen so easily.

"It was also quite distressing, and a real inconvenience to have to prove who I am and change all my security settings."

She added: “I think the Scams Awareness Campaign is a really good initiative. Anything that can raise awareness of how these scammers operate has to be a good thing. I would urge everyone to be really vigilant.

"If you think a scam can’t happen to you, you’re wrong. And yes, we all need to talk about scams much more. That’s why I am speaking out today. I want to help make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”