Raising awareness for Friends Against Scams

: Oxford Centre, Longbenton

: Manors Walk, Cramlington House

As part of last week’s Safeguarding Awareness For Everyone (SAFE) week, a major regional safeguarding campaign that aims to raise awareness about protecting vulnerable people from abuse and harm, we focused on raising understanding about Friends Against Scams.

Friends Against Scams is a National Trading Standards initiative, which aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering them to take a stand against scams. Such scams include credit card scams, bank fraud and falling victim illegal loan sharks.

We organised an awareness stand at both Manor Walks shopping centre in Cramlington and the Oxford Centre in Longbenton where we spoke to people about scam awareness and the importance of staying vigilant. Both homes also held coffee mornings, selling purple themed cookies and cake as part of their awareness raising efforts.

Loraine Brunton, our General Manager, said: “It’s so worrying and upsetting that falling victim to scams is pretty commonplace. Even more disturbing is the fact that over half of people over 65 have been targeted by scams.

“We talked to lots of different people, of all backgrounds, ages and gender, and either they had fallen prey to a scammer, or someone had attempted to scam them, or they knew someone who had been scammed and cheated out of a lot of money.”

Both stands had great displays and staff handed out various information leaflets on how to avoid being scammed, and details about the warning signs to be aware of.

Loraine added: “The main aim of our stand and presence was to explain the different ways in which people can trick you into deceitfully handing over personal details which will enable them to financially gain at your expense.

“We also explained where people can seek help if they have fallen victim to a scam as well as how to support someone in the aftermath of this horrible, personally invasive crime.

“I just wanted to say a big thank you to the team who really got involved in the day, as well as organising the coffee mornings and wearing purple, to raise awareness for this very important cause.”

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