Serious help needed

tom.senex

To cut a very long story short.
I am quite close to an elderly woman in her 80s who I believe is being conned by one of her friends who works in a bank.
The woman lives alone (and suffers from memory loss) with a lodger of 64 (never married) and has no contact with her family for reasons.
How can I prove that money are being taken out of her account without her authorisation by this con woman working in the bank?

Do I write to the bank manager? Go to the Police? Also I want to remain anonymous and what if am wrong, which am not?

What do I do?

This con woman has also managed to get in my friend's will - the lodger showed me a letter from the solicitors - but I am dealing with this separately.

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hypno06

Blimey, what a tough one. I have no idea on what to do, but truly hope you manage to get to the bottom of this without making things unsettled between you and your elderly friend.

good luck.

pania

thats going to be a very very tough one to prove hon, but try calling crimestoppers and express your concerns to them. They will be able to advise you further on what to do.
Hugs for you though, sounds like a tough situation. xxx

RAS

Crimestoppers do not let on where they got the information from.

So give them as much evidence as possible that can be checked without alerting anyone.

it is also possible that the old lady has signed a legal authorisation deliberately. If she suffers from dementia, this probably should be registered with the Court of Protection. In that instance, the friend in the bank can only act in the old lady's best interests and the Court of Protection can check any and all transactions.

pania

crimestoppers:- 0800 555 111

tom.senex

I will defo call them ASAP - many thanks for that

Also, do you think I shall get in touch with my friend's son - apparently he is horrible and not in the will, but I know he is aware of this con woman. He recently sent social services around.

pania

Let us know how you get on hon adn be as comprehensive with then as possible!! we'll be waiting for an update.

Big hug. xxx

taxi73

That's tricky..if you don't get answers from crimestoppers I would call the police anything you say to them is in confidence as well..please keep us posted

Mikeyorks

It's a tricky one. And not something Crimestoppers are geared to deal with - you need a bit more evidence than pure anecdotal. For the same reason - the Bank Manager isn't a good choice

You mention (the son had sent) Social Services had been round. They're probably a good start. But you really need a bit more than a gut instinct. If the 80 year old is a 'friend' ..... how does she get at money from the Bank account (debit card / cheque / in person??)? If you know that (and she has no power of attorney etc in place) you should - over the next few weeks, if you've got no hard proof now, be able to track if there are any withdrawals she has not organised / authorised?

But you really need something like that as a starter - only then can you go for the next level and get the Police / Bank to start investigating duplicate cards / forged or stolen cheques / withdrawal slips etc etc.

RAS

Hi

Based on my experience, social services in this situation may not be particularly useful. If mum says that all is fine, they will believe her. If she says she does not get on with son, they may well assume that this is sour grapes.

it may be worth one of you talking to Age Concern, who operate telephone advice in some areas. My local one was brill but the one where mum lived was useless.

After explaining the situation, she immediately spotted the problem. We had been using ordinary language; when we used the "official" phrase , the GP, consultant CPN and Social Serives swung into action in two days, after four exasperating years.

So check with them what the current trigger words are as this may get the old lady a proper assessment of her state.

Re the Court of Protection, if the friend at the bank applies to the Court of Protection, then son has to be informed and can challenge the arrangment.

Also, has anyone considered finding out if the bank has any sort of compliance officer. I am fairly certain that they would be concerned that an employee was acting unofficially on behalf of a client.

tom.senex

The con woman has power of attorney - found out yesterday. I know my friend gets her money delivered at home from this woman (used to work for the Woolwich now Barclays) in person and then signs a slip. Apparently a joint account has been also opened.
I know there is something dodgy going on but how do I go on proving it and stopping it?

My friend has been conned many times in the past by them "you have won pay us a thousand quid" kind of thing.