Sutton Council has issued a warning to borough residents about the dangers of mail scams after coming across a 90-year-old woman who has been conned out of £60,000 by unscrupulous people over the past decade.
The pensioner, who received and responded to thousands of unsolicited letters and phone calls from the UK, France, The Netherlands, Canada and Australia, first came to the attention of Sutton Trading Standards as a Priority Scam victim where mail, identified as scam mail, containing her bank details and a cheque, was seized along with other victims’ bank details.
The pensioner, who received and responded to thousands of unsolicited letters and phone calls from the UK, France, The Netherlands, Canada and Australia, first came to the attention of Sutton Trading Standards as a Priority Scam victim where mail, identified as scam mail, containing her bank details and a cheque, was seized along with other victims’ bank details.
The elderly woman first got caught up in the postal scam in 2005 when she ordered some make-up advertised in a mail-order catalogue. Soon after a prize-draw letter arrived, followed by another, then another and another. The more letters she answered, the more she received.
The elderly Sutton resident, who has asked to remain anonymous, said:
“I would not have stopped had Sutton Trading Standards not come and helped me to stop. I really wouldn’t. I think I would have gone on and on and on until I was broke.
“When you look back you can’t believe you could be so stupid.
“The penny dropped when I was shown the cheque by Trading Standards and told that they had intercepted a known scam. It hit me then that I had spent all of that money and I had got nothing that I would ordinarily buy.”
When council officer Trudy Richards visited the elderly woman in her home, the resident opened a large store cupboard in the hallway and it was piled high with bags of scam mail. The pensioner’s bedroom was also crammed full of thousands of items she had ordered so that she could be entered into various prize draws.
Trudy Richards, Environmental Protection Officer in Trading Standards, part of the Kingston and Sutton Shared Environment Office, said:
“The pensioner said she was relieved it was all out in the open. She mentioned she had fallen behind with her rent a couple of years ago and was entering prize draws believing she was a winner and would then be able to pay her rent and top-up her dwindling savings.
“She had been responding to prize draws and mail from all over the world ordering unwanted and overpriced items for over a decade. She said she did not want or need a fraction of the items she had ordered and the more she responded the more she received.
“Getting the visit from Trading Standards and seeing the cheque was a wake-up call for her.”
The elderly woman said:
“I got caught up in the cycle. It just goes on and on. You think, I have won, it says I’ve won, but you never get the money. You find a clause at the bottom if you read the letter carefully, which you don’t do, that says if you have won in tiny letters that you can’t see unless you’re really looking for them. But you don’t look for them, do you?
“You get caught up in it and you can’t get yourself out. You keep thinking, I’ve won, I’m sure I have, but it hasn’t come through yet.
“I thought I may as well go in for the prize draws. I was just buying things and filling in entry forms. I thought, I’m spending a lot of money here but I seem to be getting close to winning, I’m sure I’m winning, and that win will help replace the money that I’ve spent. It never did.
“It was like putting money in a slot machine and not getting a penny back.
“The more I responded, the more people wrote to me to say that I’d won a prize and ask me to send my details, then I would get another letter back saying that I needed to write off for an authorisation code.
“I got more and more and more of everything. I got a terrific lot of mail through the letterbox. I’ve gone through an awful lot of money. I must have spent £60,000.”
Sutton Trading Standards, with the assistance of the Sutton Housing Partnership and Supported and Sheltered Housing, removed 34 bags of scam mail from the pensioner’s home. The council has also set up a mail redirection service with the Post Office to prevent any further scam mail from arriving. The pensioner’s telephone number has been changed to stop her receiving any more cold calls enticing her to enter competitions and win thousands of pounds by buying various goods.
The 90-year-old pensioner said:
“I don’t think I would have stopped had Trading Standards not come along. I’m so pleased they did.”
Cllr Nick Emmerson, Lead Councillor for Trading Standards at Sutton Council, said:
“I want to congratulate the Trading Standards officers for stopping the fraud and heartache this elderly resident has suffered from scam mail over the last 10 years, entrapping her in a cycle of raised expectations and broken promises.
“Should anyone know of a relative or friend who is trapped by scam mail, we would ask that they notify Citizens Advice, who will forward details to the council so that our officers can set in motion the necessary action with other agencies.”
Sutton Trading Standards works in partnership with the National Trading Standards Scams Team (NTSST) and other partner agencies. It receives lists of potential scam victims living in the borough, where their details are identified when known scam mail is intercepted and passed onto the NTSST.
Scams are schemes to con people out of their money and include Lotteries, Prize Draws, Clairvoyants, Investment Scams, Land Ownership, Holiday Clubs, Wills and Beneficiary of Deceased Estate, and Dating and Romance Scams.
In some cases Sutton residents have received scam prize draw letters offering top prizes in return for them completing an acceptance form with their name, address, telephone number and date of birth. Others have received catalogues offering various items for sale, and ordered expensive and often unwanted goods just to be entered into a prize draw.
If you think you know someone who has been a scam victim or perhaps you believe you are a scam victim yourself, contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06. The helpline will provide you with advice and pass the details onto your local Trading Standards Services.
Report scams or suspected scams to Action Fraud 0300 123 2040 or visit www.actionfraud.police.uk.
The elderly Sutton resident, who has asked to remain anonymous, said:
“I would not have stopped had Sutton Trading Standards not come and helped me to stop. I really wouldn’t. I think I would have gone on and on and on until I was broke.
“When you look back you can’t believe you could be so stupid.
“The penny dropped when I was shown the cheque by Trading Standards and told that they had intercepted a known scam. It hit me then that I had spent all of that money and I had got nothing that I would ordinarily buy.”
When council officer Trudy Richards visited the elderly woman in her home, the resident opened a large store cupboard in the hallway and it was piled high with bags of scam mail. The pensioner’s bedroom was also crammed full of thousands of items she had ordered so that she could be entered into various prize draws.
Trudy Richards, Environmental Protection Officer in Trading Standards, part of the Kingston and Sutton Shared Environment Office, said:
“The pensioner said she was relieved it was all out in the open. She mentioned she had fallen behind with her rent a couple of years ago and was entering prize draws believing she was a winner and would then be able to pay her rent and top-up her dwindling savings.
“She had been responding to prize draws and mail from all over the world ordering unwanted and overpriced items for over a decade. She said she did not want or need a fraction of the items she had ordered and the more she responded the more she received.
“Getting the visit from Trading Standards and seeing the cheque was a wake-up call for her.”
The elderly woman said:
“I got caught up in the cycle. It just goes on and on. You think, I have won, it says I’ve won, but you never get the money. You find a clause at the bottom if you read the letter carefully, which you don’t do, that says if you have won in tiny letters that you can’t see unless you’re really looking for them. But you don’t look for them, do you?
“You get caught up in it and you can’t get yourself out. You keep thinking, I’ve won, I’m sure I have, but it hasn’t come through yet.
“I thought I may as well go in for the prize draws. I was just buying things and filling in entry forms. I thought, I’m spending a lot of money here but I seem to be getting close to winning, I’m sure I’m winning, and that win will help replace the money that I’ve spent. It never did.
“It was like putting money in a slot machine and not getting a penny back.
“The more I responded, the more people wrote to me to say that I’d won a prize and ask me to send my details, then I would get another letter back saying that I needed to write off for an authorisation code.
“I got more and more and more of everything. I got a terrific lot of mail through the letterbox. I’ve gone through an awful lot of money. I must have spent £60,000.”
Sutton Trading Standards, with the assistance of the Sutton Housing Partnership and Supported and Sheltered Housing, removed 34 bags of scam mail from the pensioner’s home. The council has also set up a mail redirection service with the Post Office to prevent any further scam mail from arriving. The pensioner’s telephone number has been changed to stop her receiving any more cold calls enticing her to enter competitions and win thousands of pounds by buying various goods.
The 90-year-old pensioner said:
“I don’t think I would have stopped had Trading Standards not come along. I’m so pleased they did.”
Cllr Nick Emmerson, Lead Councillor for Trading Standards at Sutton Council, said:
“I want to congratulate the Trading Standards officers for stopping the fraud and heartache this elderly resident has suffered from scam mail over the last 10 years, entrapping her in a cycle of raised expectations and broken promises.
“Should anyone know of a relative or friend who is trapped by scam mail, we would ask that they notify Citizens Advice, who will forward details to the council so that our officers can set in motion the necessary action with other agencies.”
Sutton Trading Standards works in partnership with the National Trading Standards Scams Team (NTSST) and other partner agencies. It receives lists of potential scam victims living in the borough, where their details are identified when known scam mail is intercepted and passed onto the NTSST.
Scams are schemes to con people out of their money and include Lotteries, Prize Draws, Clairvoyants, Investment Scams, Land Ownership, Holiday Clubs, Wills and Beneficiary of Deceased Estate, and Dating and Romance Scams.
In some cases Sutton residents have received scam prize draw letters offering top prizes in return for them completing an acceptance form with their name, address, telephone number and date of birth. Others have received catalogues offering various items for sale, and ordered expensive and often unwanted goods just to be entered into a prize draw.
If you think you know someone who has been a scam victim or perhaps you believe you are a scam victim yourself, contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06. The helpline will provide you with advice and pass the details onto your local Trading Standards Services.
Report scams or suspected scams to Action Fraud 0300 123 2040 or visit www.actionfraud.police.uk.