Fears pandemic has led to more victims of fraud across Lincolnshire
Victims of all ages are being targeted, some only teenagers
It's feared the pandemic has led to more victims of fraud across Lincolnshire.
During lockdown, places like banks had to close, and face-to-face advice meetings were cancelled.
More people also relied on the internet.
This opened them up to scammers, who targeted victims of all ages, some only teenagers.
A man from Grantham, whose in his 70s, nearly lost £25,000 at the beginning of the first lockdown.
“I was gutted. I felt a total idiot. I thought I’d done everything possible with the checks I was doing.
"I felt I let myself down, my family down because I didn’t spot a scam where I should’ve done and that was the worst bit about it."
He was able to get his money back after proving he had been diligent in making checks prior to the scam.
He believes the pandemic has provided fraudsters with the ideal opportunity because of the limited face-to-face contact and increase in online interactions.
“At the height of the pandemic, people weren’t going out and seeing others and everything was being done online so it really has given fraudsters the scope to carry out these scams.
"Because of my experience, I’ll never do another transaction of that sort online."
He had this advice for others.
“If you’re going to deal with a company, make sure you get their Financial Services reference number or FRN.
"You can input this on the Financial Services website, and it will bring up the name of the company and it will give you all the details of their switchboard, their telephone numbers and other contact details.
"You have to be careful with emails and phone numbers because sometimes, they’re identical apart from one digit or one character and that makes such a big difference.”
What does Lincolnshire Police advise?
"If you think you’ve been targeted by an investment fraud, please report it to the FCA Scam Smart website.
"If you think you’ve fallen victim to an investment fraud, report it to Action Fraud as soon as possible, either online or by calling 0300 123 2040."