Scamming the elderly by post

supermum1958

Despite the best efforts of the ThinkJessica website, elderly people are still being taken in by numerous scams delivered in the post by the Royal Mail.

My mum, who is 82 and getting confused, has been writing cheques for about two years now, at a rate of around £200-300 a week. As time goes on, not surprisingly, she gets more and more post - fake lotteries, prizes you've won in competitions you didn't enter, cheap chocolate and toiletries for which outrageous prices are charged, with the lure of a non-existent draw for a larger order etc. etc.

The Royal Mail makes helpful noises when contacted, but given that carrying both junk and scam mail is a main source of profit it clearly lacks the will to do anything concrete in identifying and preventing this disgraceful trade.

Who's with me? We need to shame them into action!

Martin?

whatmichaelsays

I don't understand. You want Royal Mail to start opening everybody's mail in case it might be a scam?

jamespir

i dont see where theres a problem my grandma is nearly 90 has dementia an alzheimers but she aint stupid and put the junk mail in the bin (its the phone calls she does tend to listen too though )

its aimed at all post recievers not just your dear old ma

fluffnutter

I'm as depressed by this as the next person. Has your mum really lost £25K in the last two years to this? What is anyone (you?) doing to help? If she's confused, how about being more involved in her spending? Does she need her cheque book? Have you considered power of attorney? Honestly, if she's lost this much money, it's about time someone intervened.

And I agree that the RM can't do much for those lists she finds herself on, but you can opt out of junk mail, i.e. the 'To the occupier' stuff that RM delivers. You can also sign up with the Mailing Preference Service. But the most important thing is that she stops applying for these things - and that's where her family (not RM) need to come in.

Links below re. RM optout and the MPS.

http://www2.royalmail.com/you-home/controlling-your-mail

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/mps_choosetype.html

supermum1958

WhatMichaelsays: actually, it's really easy to tell from the envelope: they nearly all say there's a cheque for £x,000,000 waiting for you, or a car, or something. It really is obvious.

jamespir: it's estimated that £3 billion a year goes this way, so it's not just my dear old ma.

And yes, I do my best and have talked about it again and again, but it is an addiction. Have a look at ThinkJessica.com to see how the addiction works. A professor at Exeter university has done a big study about it for the Government. Many victims resist knowint the truth, and few will take out a power of attorney. And if the clairvoyant scammers get a hold, they tell the victim their family are out to destroy them, that their children are jealous of their good fortune etc. and turn the victim against their own flesh and blood.

Believe me, it is a big problem. I am grappling with it, so's my sister, but we are both raising a family too and you can't go in every day and confiscate the post!

supermum1958

And yes, fluffnutter, the cheque is her preferred mode of operation. Sometimes seven or eight a day. all for small amounts - £20 to £40 for 'processing of the prize cheque', 'registering of your new car', p&p on your new TV or whatever. The forgetfulness makes them think it's their fault. And the addiction keeps them sending off the cheques.

fluffnutter

supermum1958 wrote: »

WhatMichaelsays: actually, it's really easy to tell from the envelope: they nearly all say there's a cheque for £x,000,000 waiting for you, or a car, or something. It really is obvious.

jamespir: it's estimated that £3 billion a year goes this way, so it's not just my dear old ma.

And yes, I do my best and have talked about it again and again, but it is an addiction. Have a look at ThinkJessica.com to see how the addiction works. A professor at Exeter university has done a big study about it for the Government. Many victims resist knowint the truth, and few will take out a power of attorney. And if the clairvoyant scammers get a hold, they tell the victim their family are out to destroy them, that their children are jealous of their good fortune etc. and turn the victim against their own flesh and blood.

Believe me, it is a big problem. I am grappling with it, so's my sister, but we are both raising a family too and you can't go in every day and confiscate the post!

Aah, well if it's an addiction and she doesn't want help then what can you do? Seriously. I know it sounds harsh but she's got to want to sort it out herself. That's the rule of addiction and it doesn't matter whether you're 18 or 80.

If she's not facing up to it, then you can't help her.

supermum1958

Does it seem acceptable, fluffnutter, that the Royal Mail does nothing in the thousands of instances of this type of addiction? And that they are knowingly allowing to grow a huge industry that is conning so many elderly folk like this? The government commissioned the report from Exeter University more than two years ago now.... They just don't want the Royal Mail to lose the business because of the projected privatisation. But this is not a moral stand to take, is it?

Dave_C_2

fluffnutter wrote: »

Links below re. RM optout and the MPS.

http://www2.royalmail.com/you-home/controlling-your-mail

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/mps_choosetype.html

+1 for this. Sadly RM won't do anything to reduce their profits, so the first step is signing up to these two.

It's obvious that these are rip-offs. Like scam phone calls and fuel prices, the government regulators who are supposed to look after our interests do nothing.

Dave

fluffnutter

supermum1958 wrote: »

Does it seem acceptable, fluffnutter, that the Royal Mail does nothing in the thousands of instances of this type of addiction? And that they are knowingly allowing to grow a huge industry that is conning so many elderly folk like this? The government commissioned the report from Exeter University more than two years ago now.... They just don't want the Royal Mail to lose the business because of the projected privatisation. But this is not a moral stand to take, is it?

That's a bit like saying casinos shouldn't exist because some people can't control their gambling. Or we should ban alcohol because some people are alcoholics.

It's distressing, I know. But it's not RM's fault.

supermum1958

The Royal Mail are knowingly profiting from an evil trade. This is not right.

Here is the University of Exeter study:

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/rkt/casestudies/contractresearchcasestudies/scamscasestudy/