Advice for protecting yourself against scammers

While anyone can fall for a scam or nuisance callers, people living with dementia can be more at risk because they can find managing money and assessing risk harder.

Alzheimer’s Society has four tips for avoiding financial scams and pushy marketing calls:

1. Protect yourself on the phone

• If you receive a letter, email, text or phone call you’re unsure about, which seems too good to be true, or needs urgent action, ask someone you trust for a second opinion. A real bank or organisation will never contact you out of the blue asking for your PIN, full password or to move money to another account. Check your bank or utility provider’s website or call them to see how they will and won’t communicate with you, or to confirm whether they have contacted you. Don’t feel pressured to act straight away. Take your time and seek advice if you receive a call asking you to do something you’re not sure about. Don’t be afraid to hang up if you are unsure. You can always ring them back via the number displayed on their website or on any official letters. Unwanted sales and marketing calls can be stopped for free by signing up to the Telephone Preference Service. Most junk mail can also be stopped by opting out at the Mailing Preference Service.

2. Stay safe when buying online

While shopping online is often an efficient and accessible way of doing your shopping, it’s good to know how to spot fraudulent sellers to keep you and your money safe. If you are unsure about the authenticity of a seller or website, start by checking whether they are a registered company at Companies House on GOV.UK. You can also check to see what people have said about the company, on different review websites such as Which?. If you decide to go ahead with the purchase and the item costs more than £100, use a credit card if you have one, as you might have a legal claim for credit card purchases above that amount if things go wrong. Spam filters can also stop unwanted or unsolicited emails from reaching your inbox, while avoiding answering pop up surveys or putting personal details into online adverts can help to keep you safe.

3. Learn how to spot a phishing scam

A common scam, known as phishing, involves fraudsters sending out emails that appear to be from a legitimate company. This may involve scammers contacting potential victims by email pretending to be from a respected organisation, requesting that you make a payment or to provide personal or financial information. Before taking any action, find their website via a search engine (avoid using any information or links included in the email) to find ways to contact them from there (using the telephone number or email address provided) to confirm whether the request is genuine. If you are still unsure, ask someone you trust for a second opinion. If you get an email from a company with a strange email address or one that has never emailed you before asking you for money/payment unexpectedly, don’t click on links or download anything. Doing this could infect your computer with a virus.

4. Stay safe from people at your door pretending to be someone they’re not. Having a stranger knock on your door, can be unnerving, particularly for people living with dementia. If you have an unexpected visitor at your door, don’t be afraid to ask for their ID, proof of their identity or to check with the organisation they claim to be from. If possible, call a friend or family member to let them know that someone has come to the house you don’t recognise and discuss why they have called.

Don’t be afraid to shut the front door while you check they are who they say they are. If visitors are genuine, they will understand. It may also be worth checking if your local council operates a No Cold Caller scheme. If so, you should be able to obtain an official No Cold Caller sign, informing cold callers that if they conduct a personal visit to a home displaying the sticker then they may be committing a criminal offence.