Be careful of scams warns Jim Shannon MP
Jim Shannon MP has reminded the general public to be wary of scams.
Speaking of a recent scam in the Ards area, he said: “I was absolutely heartbroken after Christmas to learn that a lady that I know very well in Ards was scammed out of around £80 000.
“She believed that she was paying into a saving scheme for her grandchildren through Amazon by ‘lodging’ money in at Asda.
“This had been going on for months and rather than saving that money for her grandchildren she had been lifting her pension – going without herself – and paying a scammer.
“Her family found out only after her death when they went through her statements and saw the recurrent payments.”
Jim Shannon added: “They went to the PSNI and whilst it is clear that this was a scam, it was also near impossible to get this money back.
“And this has hurt the family more to know that their beloved mother was scammed out of her hard earned and hard saved money and this is a terrible lesson for us all to learn.
“However, we must learn from this terrible experience.
“Whats more, we have to have that conversation with our vulnerable elderly relatives ensuring that they know that if they want to use any saving scheme or fund for anyone it must be done through their own bank face-to-face with a bank official.
“This is why I have a real difficulty with the loss of local branches.
“It was very useful instead to go into a branch and trust your local bank workers with them knowing your spending and savings etc, and asking questions to be helpful to your.
“The faceless society we now live in enables scammers to prey on the vulnerable who don’t understand that buying Amazon cards is not a saving scheme.
“Please take the time to speak with your loved one(s) and ensure that the money that they have remains theirs or goes where they want it to go.”
