lottery/competition scams and identity fraud what to do?

[mottley]

Reported father being scammed some time ago to action fraud and they said I cannot report scams he must do so. Have tried over many months to persuade him and it is not going to happen. So do I wait until things get totally out of control. Have phoned most organisations without any success and spoken to doctor, so what now? Father currently getting photos done (I have my suspicions that probably for someone wanting to steal his identity). All current scams coming from abroad.He has lost considerable sums on these lotteries/competition scams but is never going to accept that there is fraud. Feeling sorry for mum living with this and who is not well.

Propose to try again with police and doctor tomorrow but running out of ideas.

Any suggesions would be helpful?

 

[Grannie G]

Is your father diagnosed with dementia and does anyone have a LPA?

 

[nitram]

I repeat Grannie G's questions but also draw your attention to:-

"Report a scam to Action Fraud. They provide a special service, alongside Victim Support, for carers to report scams on behalf of a vulnerable victim. The victim must be one of the following:

under 17
have a mental health problem or learning difficulty
have a physical disability.
The website address is www.actionfraud.police.uk and the telephone number is 0300 123 2040."

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>>>CITIZENS ADVICE GUIDE<<<

 

[mottley]

Is your father diagnosed with dementia and does anyone have a LPA?

No he is not diagnosed and I do not have LPA or likely to have. He is fine in many respects but no longer makes sensible financial decisions like he used to. Doctor did not want to know, but will send letter rather than phone and state position so it is on record.

 

[Grannie G]

I wonder if Age Concern /Age UK will be able to advise?

 

[mottley]

Not sure he comes under any of those headings. Have spoken to Age uk, registered them with mps and tps. PURCHASED A NEW PHONE for them so international and nuisance calls blocked but has now removed this as he wants calls for he gets his prize winnings, unfortunately phone only lasted 2 weeks.
Have been helping them for years with gardening, housework, shopping as thought they were hardup finding things difficult, turns out it is nothing of the sort.

Have spoken to Age uk and they suggested police. Action Fraud say he has to phone I cannot report fraud. Although helping parents alot don't come within their classification of a carer.

 

[nmintueo]

Are you talking about phone-based scams using his landline phone? If so, why not get a call blocker to block cold callers and restrict what numbers he can call?

 

[nitram]

Unfortunately the Mental Capacity Act is not very helpful in cases like this.

Principle 3: Unwise decisions

People have the right to make what others might regard as an unwise or eccentric decision. Everyone has their own values, beliefs and preferences which may not be the same as those of other people. You cannot treat them as lacking capacity for that reason.


>>>SCIE MCA SUMMARY<<<

 

[mottley]

Both phone and postal scams. That is why we bought a new phone for him so calls could be blocked and you can keep track of who calls and then find out on " who calls me" and other sites online but I can't force him to keep phone and he has reinstated old phone now. Unfortunately cannot redirect post without his permission or power of attorney.

 

[mottley]

I can appreciate that but there are all the other people that are on the receiving end of behaviour e.g. like his wife etc. If I stand by and do nothing having exhausted all other avenues which I am probably about to do then I am perhaps complicit? As my mother says there is nothing she can do about it she just gets up and does her own thing each day. So sad especially as she is not well herself

 

[starryuk]

Can your mum help? If they have a joint account, could she open one in her own name and transfer funds, leaving not much (to be scammed) in the joint account? Does your dad have enough capacity to notice?

If he does, then he must have enough capacity to do a POA...if he could be persuaded. We got a longstanding friend to be the certifier for mum, and kept it until she had lost capacity when we registered it. Perhaps if they both did one, 'just in case your dad/mum has to go into hospital and your mum/dad needs help to pay the bills etc' or some other excuse.

Apologies if these suggestions are inappropriate for your situation. It must be such a worry for you.

 

[Beate]

When my OH started to give info and agree to appointments with all and sundry on the phone or at the door I did two things: Had an emergency assessment done with Social Services which finally made them spring into action as I said he's a vulnerable adult who is in danger of getting defrauded so they finally arranged Day Care for him 5 days a week which keeps him out of the house a lot, and the second thing was that I studied our phone, discovered it had a very nifty silencer function that allows you to put caller numbers into groups and silence the ones you don't want to get through for any particular day or time you determine. So I programmed numbers of family members in Group A and the rest is on silence until 9pm when even the hardiest sales caller has given up phoning. It was a stonking success. I also contacted everyone who had managed to make an appointment to see OH about funeral plans or the like and not only told them off severely but also tweeted about their behaviour online. You wouldn't believe how successful that is if they are trying to be a respectable business. I have got a no cold callers sign at the door and I have a firm eye on the mail to see what's coming in. Luckily he's not in the habit of sending out money to Nigerian fraudsters, but important pieces of mail have got lost in the past as he squirreled them away.

 

[mottley]

Thank you for all your suggestions as months of wondering what to do and searching internet have not helped me find a solution. Unfortunately think my mother has dementia, possibly parkinsons and breast cancer but she won't see doctor or have treatment. She does not have any money have only recently found out her small pension (not full pension) is paid into fathers account and he dishes out money. Not sure if house is in his name either now. I have never been aware of their finances until recently when I found out accidently that on a joint monthly income of around £1800, £800 was spent on scams. Endless postal scams come every day (sometime 8 or more). This has been going on for some years.

Father seems perfectly normal except for problem making out of character decisions with money, prior to this he was always good with money. Will think about other bank account for mum if it could be achieved. Thanks for suggestion.

 

[mottley]

I know nothing of social services and assessments. I thought they were more about claiming benefits and getting care packages. So I could investigate this avenue. In the perfect world if it wasn't for scams they would have enough money for a little help and that would take pressure off even if only for the short term as father has too much to do. Thank you for suggestion.

The phone unfortunately I cannot control if he removes phone we bought for them to block calls etc as his old phone cannot block calls etc. as very old. Also I only spend one full day a week with them and odd times so really have no idea what goes on.

Had not thought about twitter etc. as he recently spent all their savings with a well know upvc co for guttering etc at a cost of £8000 which my husband should only have cost £2000 and that would have been if he had done the job as he works in construction and had a really easy week. So may put that on my to do list

 

[cragmaid]

I am not advocating fraud you understand, but....is the Action Fraud person actually able to tell if it is your Dad or...say...your OH making the hypothetical call....you understand?
Likwise, although I do actually have LPA for my Mum, when we moved house I just had her mail redirected to our new address by signing the form for her. I would have had to send the form, ID, proof of address and a copy of the LPA away and we only had one weeks notice of the move ( long story). My signing of her name was not questioned but I had proof of her ID in the form of her birth certificate if it were needed.

 

[cragmaid]

Mottley, your Mum could contact the DWP and have her pension paid into her own account. It does not HAVE to be paid into Dad's.

 

[mottley]

Mottley, your Mum could contact the DWP and have her pension paid into her own account. It does not HAVE to be paid into Dad's.

Thank you for that. Might be able to help her do that.