Today Kenneth met with Connor and Eilidh of Advice Direct Scotland, to discuss how to protect people against scams.
Common scams include bogus callers offering services such as maintenance work in a bid to gain access to properties, online marketplace traders selling fake goods and false emails claiming to be from companies including Amazon, banks and government departments.
Scams cost the Scottish economy up to £1 billion a year and 53% of people over 65 have been targeted by scams. However, currently only 5% of scams are reported.
Advice Direct Scotland runs the new dedicated consumer advice service www.consumeradvice.scot thanks to £600,000 of financial support from the SNP Government. It provides free and impartial advice to people on any consumer issue and if more potential scams are reported to them, the organisation can work with Trading Standards and Police Scotland to raise awareness and prevent more people being scammed.
Kenneth said:
“There is no shame in being conned as scammers used sophisticated techniques to trick people, so it’s vitally important to report any suspicions to consumeradvice.scot so that action can be taken.”
ENDS
