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Last year in Cheshire, 5,281 people reported being scammed, costing them over £20 million.
Scammers are criminals who commit fraud. They target older people more than any other group.
This project helps older people to be resilient against scams and provide advice and support to victims of fraud.

Our award winning project now operates across the whole of the Cheshire East borough.

Click on the blue crosses below to find out more about our work

What is the Older Persons Scams Awareness and Aftercare project?

Scammers often work in teams and target the same person with several different scams. The scam might be a phone call, text, email, letter, or someone knocking on your front door.

Age UK Cheshire East are partnering with Cheshire East Council's Trading Standards Team to raise awareness of scams and doorstep crime amongst local older people, and support those who have been scammed to not become a repeat victim.

What does the project offer?

We offer a range of services to groups and individuals:

Personal scams advice sessions – These are tailored to the client’s needs, giving information on how to spot, avoid and report scams. These sessions are free and can take place in your home, online over zoom, or in your local community centre or library.

Support for people who have been a victim of scams and fraud - Being scammed can seriously affect a person’s quality of life and wellbeing. If you have been targeted by a scammer, you should never be afraid or embarrassed to speak up. Older people defrauded in their own homes are 2½ times more likely to either go into residential care or die or within a year. However, 84% of victims who have received support afterwards report feeling safer and more confident.

We offer one-to-one support to older people who have been victims of scams. This could range from a phone call to reinforce scams awareness and safety tips, to a programme of support to help build confidence and enable the individual to re-engage in the community.

Community talks – We deliver free talks to groups to raise awareness of scams and fraud, and how to protect yourself from them.

Scams awareness update bulletin – this monthly newsletter has a featured fraud and alerts to current frauds in the area. It is free to anyone who has an email address. You also get a bonus of our monthly Age UK Cheshire East newsletter too! 

To book any of our services, please give us a call on 01625 612958 or email us. Click here to subscribe to our scams awareness update bulletin. We are happy to hear from older people directly or take referrals from agencies.

Special multi-ageny scams awareness events - click here to watch our video of our 2023 event. 

How can I get involved?

Become a Scams Awareness Volunteer: We have a team of Scams Awareness Champions who help us deliver our services.

Our Champions:

  • Share fraud awareness information in the local community.
  • Prepare resources for fraud awareness sessions.
  • Help out and talk to people at fraud awareness sessions.
  • Visit older people to raise their awareness of fraud.

If you would like to be part of the team, there’s more information on our volunteering pages. 

Useful Resources

We are collaborating with our project partners and the wider community to develop a resource bank to raise awareness of scams and how to tackle them. Please feel free to use the resources with your interest group, family, friends and colleagues to support scams awareness. All we ask is you use them in their current format so the original author is acknowledged.

Help to manage finances & avoid scams for people at risk and those who support them

Internet Scams

Staying Safe from Romance Fraud

Phone Scammers Numbers Up (Nat West)

Doorstep Scammer (Nat West)

Scams Awareness Poster (AUKCE)

Avoiding Scams (Age UK)

Looking After Your Money (Age UK)

Friends against scams You Tube video (11 minutes)

Scams Awareness Monthly Bulletins

To keep you up-to-date our work, we will be regularly publishing these handy bulletins, giving you vital information about scams and doorstep crime, and how to avoid becoming a victim.

April 2024 - Stop! Think Fraud

March 2024 - Investment fraud - fortifying your finances 

February 2024 - Love is in the snare

January 2024 - New year, new mindset

December 2023 - Energy frauds

November 2023 - Festive frauds

October 2023 - A local solution to a national problem

September 2023 - Money Mules

August 2023 - Hybrid fraud

July 2023 - Holiday frauds

June 2023 - Current phone frauds

May 2023 - Combatting identity theft and fraud

April 2023 - Bringing down the fraudsters

March 2023 - We're all vulnerable to fraud

February 2023 - The banks' response to fraud

January 2023 - New year, new friendships

December 2022 - Decluttering to combat fraud

November 2022 - Ho ho ho - Christmas purchase frauds

October 2022 - Cost of living frauds

September 2022 - Banking frauds

August 2022 - Top tools to combat fraud

July 2022 - Advanced push payment fraud

June 2022 - Courier fraud

May 2022 - Fraud news round-up

April 2022 - Subscription traps

March 2022 - Investment Fraud

February 2022 - Greenwashing fraud

January 2022 - New year, new you - kicking bad habits

December 2021 - 12 scams of Christmas...and beyond

November 2021 - Safer cultures to avoid scams

October 2021 - Impersonation scams

September 2021 - Ticketing fraud

August 2021 - Home improvement scams

July 2021 - Copycat websites

June 2021 - Scams Awareness Fortnight

May 2021 - Befriending & Romance Fraud

April 2021 - Holiday fraud

March 2021 - Look out for the small print!

February 2021 - How to report scams

January 2021 - Identity theft & identity fraud

December 2020 - Social media scams

November 2020 - Online shopping scams

October 2020 - Doorstep crime

September 2020 - Telephone scams

August 2020 - Postal mail scams

July 2020 - Romance fraud

June 2020 - Investment & pension scams

May 2020 - Banking scams

April 2020 - How to spot & avoid scams

 

This project is part of Age UK’s Scams Prevention and Support Programme. It is kindly sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group and

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