Home care workers train up to detect scams against elderly

More than a quarter of people aged over 55 are falling victim to investment fraud after being seduced by firms selling them products, such as wine, diamonds and land.

The retired are at greatest risk of investment fraud, according to research by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with low interest rates forcing a large numbers of older people into high risk, unfamiliar and unregulated products.

In a bid to protect older people, home care workers are to be trained up to detect scams against clients. Some 8,000 home care workers from Home Instead Senior Care will undergo ‘online scam awareness training’ on different types of mass marketing scams and their specific risk and will report suspected fraud to the National Trading Standards Scams Team.

In the UK, mass marketing scams involve unsolicited contact including cold calls, post and emails as the most common techniques used by investment scammers.

Research, published on 25 May by the FCA revealed just under half (47 per cent) of those who have experienced investment fraud made their investment following unsolicited contact.

The FCA’s findings are based a YouGov poll of 2,301 UK residents over the age of 55, conducted between 29 February and 7 March, and a 2014 report ‘A quantitative analysis of victims of investment crime’ which commissioned Experian to analyse the profile of victims of investment fraud using 11,359 individual records.

Those considering investing in the next 12 months indicated that they would invest an average of over £4,000, with land, wine and art as popular investment choices.

The over 65s with savings in excess of £10,000, are three and a half times as likely to fall victim to investment fraud. And more than a quarter (27 per cent) of those who became victims, did so having bought an unregulated product through an unauthorised firm.

Countdown host Nick Hewer, who was Lord Sugar's aide in television programme The Apprentice, is the face of the FCA’s campaign ScamSmart, launched on 25 May, in response to a rise in cold calls to retirees in recent years.

Nick Hewer said “I too have been targeted by unsolicited calls from scammers and would advise that if you ever receive a call offering you the investment of a life time, just put the phone down, as I did.

“We should all be outraged at the lengths that callous and criminal investment scammers will go to cheat people out of their money. Scammers are embedding themselves into people’s lives and pretending to be close friends of their targets, frequently the elderly and those living alone, before draining their life savings on a false promise of great returns through bogus investments. The tactics that these criminals use are very, very sophisticated; they could suck in even the savviest of investors, something that everyone should be aware of.”

The FCA research found that among those contacted by a firm they hadn’t heard of in the last 12 months, 40 per cent reported a sharp rise in the volume of unsolicited investment calls - the most common tactic used by investment fraudsters.

One fifth (22 per cent) of retirees holding unregulated products revealed they have invested more money into unregulated products over the last year than ever before.

Some 41 per cent have moved money out of savings into investments as the sustained period of low interest rates has seen over 55s adopting riskier investment behaviour in a bid to get a better rate of return.

Some 23 per cent say they are considering investing in unfamiliar types of investments in the future.

Despite the risks, (nearly half 48 per cent) of those investing in unregulated products through unauthorised firms do so without getting professional advice or checking publicly available investor information, such as the FCA’s Warning List.

Home Instead has created a ‘Report a Fraud’ website which allows Home Instead’s teams in its 170 offices across the country to report suspected fraudulent activity to the NTS Scams Team to alert them to the types of fraud being perpetrated and where.

Trevor Brocklebank, CEO of Home Instead described the scammers as “faceless criminals who prey on the elderly."

"The amount of money lost to these criminals is quite shocking. The damage they inflict is not simply financial; it can have a devastating effect on an elderly person’s wellbeing.”