Some pension scam victims lose more than £1m to fraudsters - MSE News

waveydavey48

Silvertabby said:

Are Mr S and I the only people in the UK who have never been cold-called by one of these scammers? I'm almost disappointed - I was looking forward to a good 'discussion' !

We too have never been cold called. After I gave up my career proper I took a little part time job for a few years as a call taker at West Yorks police. The number of calls we took from distressed elderly people who had been exploited by heartless criminals was shocking. Some of the things I heard were simply heartbreaking. 

Silvertabby

waveydavey48 said:

Silvertabby said:

Are Mr S and I the only people in the UK who have never been cold-called by one of these scammers? I'm almost disappointed - I was looking forward to a good 'discussion' !

We too have never been cold called. After I gave up my career proper I took a little part time job for a few years as a call taker at West Yorks police. The number of calls we took from distressed elderly people who had been exploited by heartless criminals was shocking. Some of the things I heard were simply heartbreaking. 

That is truly awful.  People of that generation were brought up to be trusting of anyone 'in authority', and these b******s play on that.

I like to think that I'm doing my bit by keeping them on the line for as long as I can, so they have less time to target someone vulnerable - but we really don't get that many cold calls, apart from ' I've been informed that you have had an accident that wasn't your fault' or 'your internet provider here - I can see that you have a problem with your modem and I'm going to fix it for you'.  Mr S is retired IT and he's had great success in tying the latter up in knots until they realise that he is winding them up and hang up.




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dunstonh

An old thread, obviously, but still interesting that many hear are judging the victims as “greedy” and “naive”. 

The scammers do play on the naivety of individuals and they do play to the greed of the individuals.  That is not the same as saying the individuals are greedy.    The scammers float unrealistic rates of return and slag off the existing plans as being rubbish.  The scammers know that by quoting big figures, people will see £ signs in their eyes and common sense goes out the window.    This leads to people who are normally sensible in decisions being conned.

You see it time and again on threads on this site.   I have seen it in real life trying to put people off these scammers. 

In the word of the serious fraud office the scam was complex and investors in this fund range from well educated people such as doctors, police officers and other skilled professionals to ordinary moderately educated and average paid working individuals such as my husband, who at 67 still has to work as we cannot survive on his state pension and my disability/nhs pension alone.

At least you should get the bulk of your money back eventually.   As a regulated individual was used, the FSCS normally upholds most of these.  The problem is how long it takes.

barnstar2077

Silvertabby said:

waveydavey48 said:

Silvertabby said:

Are Mr S and I the only people in the UK who have never been cold-called by one of these scammers? I'm almost disappointed - I was looking forward to a good 'discussion' !

We too have never been cold called. After I gave up my career proper I took a little part time job for a few years as a call taker at West Yorks police. The number of calls we took from distressed elderly people who had been exploited by heartless criminals was shocking. Some of the things I heard were simply heartbreaking. 

That is truly awful.  People of that generation were brought up to be trusting of anyone 'in authority', and these b******s play on that.

I like to think that I'm doing my bit by keeping them on the line for as long as I can, so they have less time to target someone vulnerable - but we really don't get that many cold calls, apart from ' I've been informed that you have had an accident that wasn't your fault' or 'your internet provider here - I can see that you have a problem with your modem and I'm going to fix it for you'.  Mr S is retired IT and he's had great success in tying the latter up in knots until they realise that he is winding them up and hang up.




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I do this too!  I had one of those "I hear you have had an accident recently that wasn't your fault" call the other day.  I was in a busy cafe at the time so told the guy I needed to get outside where it was quieter.  Then I put the phone on the table, picking it up every 30 seconds to say that the street was also very noisy and I needed to get to my car etc etc :  ) 

Silvertabby

barnstar2077 said:

Silvertabby said:

waveydavey48 said:

Silvertabby said:

Are Mr S and I the only people in the UK who have never been cold-called by one of these scammers? I'm almost disappointed - I was looking forward to a good 'discussion' !

We too have never been cold called. After I gave up my career proper I took a little part time job for a few years as a call taker at West Yorks police. The number of calls we took from distressed elderly people who had been exploited by heartless criminals was shocking. Some of the things I heard were simply heartbreaking. 

That is truly awful.  People of that generation were brought up to be trusting of anyone 'in authority', and these b******s play on that.

I like to think that I'm doing my bit by keeping them on the line for as long as I can, so they have less time to target someone vulnerable - but we really don't get that many cold calls, apart from ' I've been informed that you have had an accident that wasn't your fault' or 'your internet provider here - I can see that you have a problem with your modem and I'm going to fix it for you'.  Mr S is retired IT and he's had great success in tying the latter up in knots until they realise that he is winding them up and hang up.




.

I do this too!  I had one of those "I hear you have had an accident recently that wasn't your fault" call the other day.  I was in a busy cafe at the time so told the guy I needed to get outside where it was quieter.  Then I put the phone on the table, picking it up every 30 seconds to say that the street was also very noisy and I needed to get to my car etc etc :  ) 

I still chuckle at my 84 year old (but still sharp as a tack) neighbours trick with the 'faulty modem' trickster.  She pretended to go along with his instructions to log on to her computer in order to give him access to her modem, but took her time about it.  Everytime the scammer asked her how she was doing, she replied 'nearly there, dear'.  After a good half hour he became exasperated and asked her what the problem was.  She replied that the tape had come out of the cassette, and she was looking for a pencil so she could wind it back in. 

He must have been a youngster, because the penny didn't drop straight away.... they never rang back.

Albermarle

We are plagued with automated calls from 'Amazon' . Quiet some days but six on one day last week .
I keep blocking the numbers but they keep using different ones .

ffacoffipawb

Albermarle said:

We are plagued with automated calls from 'Amazon' . Quiet some days but six on one day last week .
I keep blocking the numbers but they keep using different ones .

Even when you follow the instructions (with the aim of wasting their time or winding them up) the line just goes dead anyway.

LHW99

Had quite a few automated "from your credit card company querying an international payment of £xxx" calls - unfortunately no-one real on the line to listen to a piece of my mind.

Aged

kinger101 said:

Deleted_User said:

An old thread, obviously, but still interesting that many hear are judging the victims as “greedy” and “naive”.  

“Greedy” people want more money. I admire those who are only in this forum because  they want less money. 

Being “Naive” is something that is likely to happen to most of us, sooner or later. As we get older our ability to make accurate financial decisions diminishes. And this is an example of decision making problems that can come with age. Younger people make such mistakes too but not as often. 

Well put.  The greed and naive labels being used border on blaming the victims for the crime.

I have noticed on more than one occasion that there are some very judgemental, unpleasant people around in here.

Chickereeeee

A couple of years ago, a close family member in their 50s was convinced to move a good, DB pension into - what turned out to be - a scam, and lost the lot. They fell fell into a depression and six months later turned to suicide.
You can lose even more than money.