Financial Abuse and Scams
Financial or material abuse – including theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to an adult’s financial affairs or arrangements, including in connection with wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits.
Scams are a type of fraud where a criminal will extort money from individuals by manipulating
language to distort reality and isolate their victims from sources of support.
Scammers will take advantage of any situation they can, such as sending emails or text messages claiming to be from the organisations such as the Government, Bank, Councils or Health Providers.
Useful Resources
The Chair of the WSAB has worked with New Possibilities to produce a podcast on Fraud and Scams for the WSAB. This can be viewed on YouTube by clicking Here Link to Fraud and Scam Podcast
Below are links to other useful documents which provide more information on scamming and financial advice:
Bournemouth University- The Language of Scams
Information Leaflet on Scamming for Friends and Family
Doorstep_Crime_Leaflet_v1.2.pdf
Take-Five-Over-Tea-with Loved-Ones_2021_
The Little Book of Big Scams – 5th Edition
Think-Jessica-leaflet Don’t-Fall-For-A-Scam.
Local Events
On the 15th June 2022, to mark Elder Abuse day, we organised an event in partnership with Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and the Herefordshire SAB.
The event was open to practitioners and trainers who work with older people across the two counties. The keynote speaker was the WSAB Chair, Professor Keith Brown who is a national lead on this matter and the aim was to raise practitioners awareness of how scammers operate and how to prevent being caught out.
The slides from the event can be found by following this link: Presentation from Scams Event