Zoom Telecom advice please

They're still at it, they have taken £21.21 out of my elderly & confused Mum's bank account. They rang her a few weeks ago & conned her into giving her debit card number and have used that to set up a direct debit. There's no paperwork or contract anywhere in her house. I only found out about it yesterday when checking her latest bank statement. Fortunately I have LPA and her bank have been very quick to cancel the direct debit but aren't sure they can get the original payment back as mum supposedly gave authorisation when she gave her debit card number. I've also contacted BT who have confirmed they won't accept a cancellation request on her account. Surely they can be prosecuted for this scam?

My 90 year old mother has recently been signed up by Zoom Telecom for a TPS, I have POA and only found out when checking her bank statement, a new 1st direct debit payment for £21.21 on 130617 had been set up. My Mum had no recollection of a conversation regarding this service, is unable to give her debit card number over the phone ( since I have erased the last 4 digits following previous telephone financial abuse mainly from charities and TPS services) however even with out this information Zoom Telecom have been able to set up a direct debit, possibly with date of birth and ? account number!! There was no paperwork linked with this "TPS service" and after a quick search on line it is clear this "company " is linked globally with financial abuse. When I checked companies house Zoom Telecom was dissolved in January 2017.

I telephoned Zoom Telecom and only by selecting the sales option on the menu did I get to speak to anyone ( apparently all calls are recorded), they were clear that they had done nothing wrong saying that my mother agreed to the service at the end of May and that the cooling off period had ended, when I asked to hear the recording of the conversation they had had with my mum they were evasive. I handle all of my Mum's correspondence, online shopping etc and I know how patient and manipulative / plausible ? they must have been to obtain any details from her , her normal response to cold callers is to put the phone down. Going back to my conversation with Zoom Telecom, I was extremely angry I know it is not a significant amount of money but it is the fact that they have been able to access Mum's bank account at all and how devious they must have been. This is not the first time this has happened , so what protection can be offered to older people from this type of scam, particularly those that are not technically savy and in the face of businesses that target the vulnerable.

I have stopped the direct debit via the building society who had not heard of this company.
This situation also raises the issue of facilitating a degree of financial independence for older people who are able to manage day to day transactions but gives a measure of security. I asked the building society whether they had any products such as preloaded / limited cash cards ie no 16 digit number or account number on them which would enable chip & pin transactions and cash withdrawls from ATM , but sadly not. So will have to continue erasing digits off pre-existing card!

Apologies for the rant my main issues are :

- what can be done to protect vulnerable people predominantly older generation from this type of financial abuse?
- what are the banks / building societies doing to provide products which enable older customers to maintain some day to day financial management with limited associated risks.

If anyone has found a solution to the latter please share.

I would be happy to be share details in any investigation regarding this company.

My mother too has been victim to this scam. We were going through her bank statement and I spotted it - 2 payments of £21.21. She has no idea how this has happened - she is completely on the ball and can spot a scam a mile off. The only thing we can think was when "BT" contacted her to say they could stop nuisance calls - when she agreed (wouldn't we all) her entire phone line was blocked and she had to spend an hour the following day to BT sorting it out. BT need to be aware of this too. I loathe these people - how can they live with themselves? I'm struck that all people targeted on this thread are elderly. Please please spread the word about this. I am.