Some of you might remember that we recently installed security cameras and a camera doorbell at mums house to help protect her from door step scammers. It is a brilliant system and we have used the two way mic to get rid of a couple of dubious callers. Also used it to get mum back inside the house when she was about to vandalise a car that had the cheek to park outside her house!
But unfortunately today, while I was out for lunch, my brother in India on holiday and my sister at work ( she only works one day a week!), Mum got a repeat visit from a scammer! Once again he called to ask mum for money to go to Leeds to collect his dead wife's body! His actions and conversation are very clear on the front door camera and I was able to save the videos a couple of hours later. Luckily mum was confused by his demands, playing the "I'm a poor widowed pensioner with no money " card and he got fed up or anxious so left empty handed.
I decided to contact the local police via their live chat facility on their website and was given a reference number and the promise of a call back within two days. I was not totally happy but I did not know what to do so set off to spend a few hours with mum and give her some tea. As I drove up, I saw two CPSO policemen on bikes at the end of the road and stopped to talk to them. They were very interested in my tale of the scammer and looked at the video clips I had, I was amazed that they knew the man! His conversation was very clear so he cannot deny that he was scamming mum. My new best friend, Darren the Policeman, gave me his mobile number so I could Whatsapp him the clips, he gave me his email address so I can let him know of other "visitors" and promised to liaise with the person dealing with my earlier crime report. He was also very interested in another caller mum had last week while my sister was there, another workman scammer who we thought had been scared off by the cameras, as they know him as well!
Soon after I got home, I sent off the clips and got immediate acknowledgmenta from Darren. I then got a phone call from mums local police station in response to the online form I completed this afternoon, Darren really has been busy!
I don't expect any action really but hopefully mum is now on the radar of the local police and they might put the fear of arrest into these two scammers! I feel the cost of the cameras has been justified.
But unfortunately today, while I was out for lunch, my brother in India on holiday and my sister at work ( she only works one day a week!), Mum got a repeat visit from a scammer! Once again he called to ask mum for money to go to Leeds to collect his dead wife's body! His actions and conversation are very clear on the front door camera and I was able to save the videos a couple of hours later. Luckily mum was confused by his demands, playing the "I'm a poor widowed pensioner with no money " card and he got fed up or anxious so left empty handed.
I decided to contact the local police via their live chat facility on their website and was given a reference number and the promise of a call back within two days. I was not totally happy but I did not know what to do so set off to spend a few hours with mum and give her some tea. As I drove up, I saw two CPSO policemen on bikes at the end of the road and stopped to talk to them. They were very interested in my tale of the scammer and looked at the video clips I had, I was amazed that they knew the man! His conversation was very clear so he cannot deny that he was scamming mum. My new best friend, Darren the Policeman, gave me his mobile number so I could Whatsapp him the clips, he gave me his email address so I can let him know of other "visitors" and promised to liaise with the person dealing with my earlier crime report. He was also very interested in another caller mum had last week while my sister was there, another workman scammer who we thought had been scared off by the cameras, as they know him as well!
Soon after I got home, I sent off the clips and got immediate acknowledgmenta from Darren. I then got a phone call from mums local police station in response to the online form I completed this afternoon, Darren really has been busy!
I don't expect any action really but hopefully mum is now on the radar of the local police and they might put the fear of arrest into these two scammers! I feel the cost of the cameras has been justified.
