AVOIDING SCAMS – A timely warning to U3A members
Sandra McSparron, Pembrokeshire County Council and her police colleague from Milford Haven gave over seventy members present timely advice on dealing with the wide range of “scams” targeting older citizens here in Pembrokeshire. While hammering home the adage
“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!”
The main types of scams they featured were:
1: Doorstep scams
2: Telephone scams
3: Text message scams
4: Internet scams
Each year many people fall victim to fraudsters, intent on stealing their personal and financial information, and conning them out of their cash. The fraudsters sound convincing, professional and many claim to represent a business you know, for example your bank. They may try to pressure you into acting quickly, either because they want to trick you into believing you will miss a golden opportunity to make money or that you will suffer some sort of loss if you fail to act. It only takes a single response to be inundated with many different scams as the scammers sell you details. Other scammers, equally victimising older people are those knock on doors to offer building work.
Geoff Winterman