We must repeat the message: fraud on our elderly is not acceptable
Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne uses World Elder Abuse Awareness Day to highlight the work she is doing in Sussex and across the country to combat the deliberate abuse of older residents through phone calls, emails or personal approaches.
In the UK, our population is ageing; the proportion of those aged over 65 has never been greater.
As people live longer, they may also become increasingly vulnerable, particularly to fraud. We know that criminal gangs are deliberately targeting our older residents because they may have substantial savings and can be more trusting.
I’ve heard more stories than I can count of older people in Sussex being swindled out of money, from the lonely 67-year-old who went online after his wife died and lost more than £100,000 through a string of romance frauds, to the two sisters in their 80s, living together, who handed over almost £10,000 for two days’ gardening work.
The older generation were raised to treat people with respect so they are often more likely to be convinced by fake lottery wins or PPI claims, plus many are at home with time on their hands to answer the telephone. Others are just lonely and look forward to that call, unaware that they are being systematically groomed by criminals.
Just because somebody is smooth-talking your grandmother out of her life savings over the phone instead of mugging her in the street doesn’t make this a less serious crime.
Here in Sussex, the force have developed Operation Signature - approved as best practice by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in April and adopted by seven other forces across the country, with a further 25 set to follow suit – a pioneering programme to protect older people from fraud.
The Op Signature process follows up on reports by local residents, particularly the elderly, of unwelcome or suspicious phone calls, emails or personal approaches asking them to invest or seeking money in other ways. Police, PCSOs or Victim Support workers will visit and offer advice, including ways of resisting further approaches; police also work closely with local charities including Age Concern and Brighton-based Time to Talk Befriending to offer support.
Members of my unique Elders’ Commission carried out a 'Big Conversation' when it was first established two years ago and they found that nuisance calls and scams was the number one crime concern for older people in Sussex.
In the 12 months to the end of March 2017, Sussex Police dealt with reports from 918 people who had received such approaches. Officers and partners visited every one with advice and support.
Almost two-thirds of victims were aged 75 or older and the same amount lived alone. Just over one in five incidents were doorstep crime and rogue traders while other types of fraud included computer scams (17%), telephone fraud, including false PPI claims (16%) and dating and romance fraud (14%).
423 of the people suffered financial loss, with almost £10m lost in total; the average amount lost was £23,370, equivalent to nearly a year’s care home fees. In the other 595 cases, the fraudsters were unsuccessful thanks to alert residents, relatives, banks and shop staff.
Sadly, when a possible victim is identified, their details are often shared with other criminals and so they are at risk of being re-targeted. That's why I funded two Victim Support case workers in January to offer emotional support and then practical help to our most vulnerable residents.
In the past five months, the two case workers have spent 7,090 minutes face-to-face with victims, freeing up the time of officers or PCSOs who would otherwise have made those visits. Working closely with local partners, they also made 327 calls to victims and set up almost 200 practical solutions from having call blockers installed to changing bank cards or providing literature on fraud.
In March I hosted a crime summit and invited many of the bodies involved in protecting our elderly residents both in Sussex and nationally to share ideas on what can be done to tackle the epidemic of elder exploitation.
We’re seeing reporting rise as more and more people understand that scams are fraud and fraud is a crime. On World Elder Abuse Awareness Day it’s more important than ever to repeat the message that fraud of our elderly is not acceptable – and that criminals won’t get away with exploiting our parents and grandparents.
Katy Bourne is the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
