North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson is encouraging residents to ‘Stop, Report, Talk’ if they think they’re being targeted by scams or fraud.
The initiative is being run by Citizen’s Advice as part of its 2019 Scams Awareness campaign, which aims to ensure consumers can recognise a scam and know what to do when they see one.
Research by Citizen’s Advice has shown that:
- That a staggering 61% of people have been targeted by scammers in the last 2 years.
- Worryingly, nearly 40% of people had been targeted 5 or more times.
- Almost half of people surveyed had taken no action to protect themselves against scams.
However, less than half of people targeted by a scam don’t tell anyone, including friends, family, and relevant authorities. This makes it difficult to know the true impact that scams have in our local communities, as well as making it harder to bring scammers to justice.
“Stop, Report, Talk” is trying to change that by encouraging people who have been victims of scams to talk about their experiences and help other people learn to be vigilant of scams.
Earlier this year, in a bid to tackle pension fraud, the Government banned companies making unwanted, unsolicited phone calls to people about their pensions. In the last year HMRC has also deployed new defensive controls to stop scammers spoofing the tax authority’s most recognisable helpline numbers; removed more than 20,000 fake HMRC websites; and saved the public over £2.4m by tackling fraudsters that trick them into using premium rate phone numbers for services that HMRC provide for free
Justin has also worked to create awareness of scams, highlighting campaigns exposing how scammers work, and collaborating with Barclays to host a scam awareness event at his community office.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Scammers are incredibly devious and can destroy people’s lives – we should all be vigilant and aware of how the operate. Initiatives like ‘Stop, Report, Talk’ which encourage us to share our experiences are important to educate the public on the increasingly sophisticated methods employed by scammers.”
