Scams affect the lives of millions of people across the UK and have severe emotional and psychological impact on victims. It is estimated that £5-10 billion is lost annually by victims of scams, with the average age of a victim being 75. Friends Against Scams is a National Trading Standards (NTS) Scams Team initiative, which aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering communities to “Take a Stand Against Scams”. It encourages communities and organisations to take the knowledge learnt and turn it into action. The initiative has been created to tackle the lack of scams awareness. It provides information about scams and those who fall victim to them, and enables communities and organisations to understand and talk about scams and cascade messages about scams prevention and protection. Older people can be more vulnerable to scams. In an ageing society, the number of people over 65 living on their own in England is projected to increase from 3.5m in 2015 to 4.97m in 2030. According to research carried out in 2017, more than a third (36%) of those who consider themselves to be lonely most or all of the time, have fallen victim to fraud. This compares to fewer than one in ten (9%) of those who do not consider themselves lonely.
Take a stand against scams
