Analysis Report of Angus Citizens Panel - Scams - Angus Council

20 Pages·2013·0.12 MB·English

by  Angus Council

Analysis Report of Angus Citizens Panel
Scams and Financial Harm
September 2013
CONTENTS

Pg

CONTENTS 2

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4

Angus Citizen’s Panel……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

1. CAMPAIGNS 8

a Are you aware of the following campaigns?…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
b Where did you find out about them?…………………………………………………………............................................................ 9

2. SCAMS 10

a Which of the following scams are you aware of?………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
b Your personal experience with scams?…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12
c Family members experience of scams?………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14

3. PREVENTING UNWANTED PHONE CALLS 16

a Are you aware of telephone technology?…………………………………………………….............................l……………………. 16
b Would you consider installing telephone technology for yourself?…… ………………………………………...... …. … ….. .. 16
c Would you consider installing telephone technology for a family member?………………………………………………………… 16

4. REPORTING SCAMS 17

a Who would you contact?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
b Are you confident something would be done?…………………………………………………………………………………………. 19
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Fig. 1 Are you aware of the following campaigns?................................................................................................................................ 8
Fig. 2 Where did you find out about these campaigns?........................................................................................................................ 9
Fig. 3 Which of the following scams are you aware of?........................................................................................................................ 11
Fig. 4 Please describe YOUR personal experience of scams?............................................................................................................ 13
Fig. 5 Are you aware of a FAMILY MEMBER having experience of scams?........................................................................................ 15
Fig. 6 Preventing unwanted phone calls………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 16
Fig. 7 Who would you contact to seek help or report a scam or suspected scam?.............................................................................. 17
Fig. 8 As a member of the public do you feel confident that something would be done?..................................................................... 19
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INTRODUCTION

In September 2013 the Angus Citizens Panel were surveyed with regard to their awareness and experience of Scams and Financial
Harm. Panel members were given the following contextual information prior to completion of the survey.

“Recent research by the Office of Fair Trading suggests that 3 million people fall victim to postal scams in the UK every year, at a cost of
£3.5 billion. The Angus share of this loss is £6.2 million.

In response, the Angus Adult Protection Committee works with a range of partners from the council, the police, local post offices, the
business community and the voluntary sector to inform and protect citizens.

This survey asks you about your awareness of the protection work that is ongoing in Angus and your experiences of scams. This includes
your own experience as well as the experience of any family members.”

ANGUS CITIZENS PANEL

The demographic of the citizens panel is important to note when reading this report and its findings.

There are currently 467 people on the Angus Citizens Panel.

• 46% are male and 54% are female
• 59% are aged between 35 and 64, 35% are 65 and over, only 5% are under 34,
• 99% are white and
• 12% consider themselves to have a disability
• 43% are retired, 32% are employed full time, 12% are employed part-time

Please note throughout the survey totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding and because some questions had multiple choice answers where respondents could choose more
than one answer.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CAMPAIGNS

• When asked which campaigns they were aware of respondents were most aware of the Doorstoppers/No cold calling campaign (75%),
followed by the Angus Reputable trader Scheme (50%).

• When asked where they found out about them

the Think Jessica campaign was through Television and National Newspapers
o
the Scam Free Angus campaign was through Post Offices and Angus Council Members of Staff
o
the No doorstoppers/cold calling campaign was through Local Neighbourhood watches and the Police
o
the Angus Reputable Trader Scheme was through the Angus Council Website and local newspaper.
o

SCAMS

• When asked which of scams they were aware of respondents stated they were aware of

doorstep sales people or rogue traders (91%)
o
mail scammers promising cash prizes (86%)
o
telephone callers insisting they need bank details (71%)
o
telephone calls offering to repair a major fault in your computer (71%)
o
emails promising huge sums of money for helping get money out of a foreign country (55%)
o

• When asked about their personal experience with scams

Scams that respondents have fallen for and lost money as a result were:

Doorstep sales people or rogue traders (2%)
o
Telephone callers offering to repair a fault in your computer (2%)
o
Telephone callers insisting they need bank details eg to refund mis-sold payment protection insurance (1%)
o
Work from home opportunities (1%)
o

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Scams that respondents had come near to falling were:

Telephone callers offering to repair a fault in your computer (6%)
o
Mail scammers promising cash prizes (4%)
o
Doorstep sales people or rogue traders (3%)
o
Telephone callers insisting they need bank details eg to refund mis-sold payment protection insurance (3%)
o
Bogus investments in gemstones, wine, land etc (2%)
o
Letters predicting the future from alleged clairvoyants or psychics (1%)
o
Work from home opportunities (1%)
o
Online dating (1%)
o

The only scam that respondents had not ‘come near to’ nor ‘had fallen for and lost money as a result’ is

Emails promising huge sums of money for helping get money out of a foreign country
o

• When asked about family members experience of scams 28% of respondents were aware of family members having experienced
scams.

Scams that family members had fallen for and lost money as a result were:

Emails promising huge sums of money for helping get money out of a foreign country (14%)
o
Telephone callers offering to repair a major fault in your computer (11%)
o
Mail scammers promising cash prizes (11%)
o
Doorstep sales people or rogue traders (10%)
o
Work from home opportunities (8%)
o
Telephone callers insisting they need bank details eg to refund mis-sold payment protection (6%)
o

Scams that family members had come near to falling for were:

Letters predicting the future from alleged clairvoyants or psychics (22%)
o
Mail scammers promising cash prizes (18%)
o
Telephone callers offering to repair a major fault in your computer (14%)
o
Bogus investments in gemstones, wine, land etc (13%)
o
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Doorstep sales people or rogue traders (13%)
o
Telephone callers offering to repair a fault in your computer (9%)
o
Work from home opportunities (8%)
o
Emails promising huge sums of money for helping get money out of a foreign country (5%)
o

The only scam that respondents had not ‘come near to’ nor ‘had fallen for and lost money as a result’ was

Online dating
o

PREVENTING UNWANTED PHONE CALLS

• The majority of respondents are aware of telephone technology that can be used to intercept and block unwanted calls and would
consider installing it for themselves and for a family member.

REPORTING SCAMS

• When asked who they would contact to seek help or report a scam or suspected scam the majority of respondents (80%) would contact
the police followed by trading standards (61%).

• When asked as a member of the public if they would be confident something would be done just less than half of respondents were
confident that something would be done, 37% were not sure.

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1. CAMPAIGNS

a) “Are you aware of the following campaigns?”

Respondents were most aware of the Doorstoppers/No cold calling campaign (75%), followed by the
Angus Reputable trader Scheme (50%).

100%
Fig. 1
90%
80%
75%
70%
60%
50%
50%
40%
30%
20% 17% 18%
10% 7%
0%
Doorstoppers/No cold Angus Reputable
Think Jessica Scam free Angus None of the above
calling Trader Scheme

n = 244
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b) “Where did you find out about these campaigns?”
Fig. 2
Television
National newspapers
Local newspapers
Angus Council website
Relative/friend
Think Jessica
Angus Council member of staff
Police
Poster/leaflet
Local neighbourhood watch
Television
National newspapers
Local newspapers
Angus Council website
Relative/friend
Scam Free Angus
Post office
Angus Council member of staff
Police
Poster/leaflet
Local neighbourhood watch
Television
National newspapers
Local newspapers
Angus Council website
Relative/friend
Doorstopper/No cold calling
Post office
Angus Council member of staff
Police
Poster/leaflet
Local neighbourhood watch
Television
National newspapers
Local newspapers
Angus Council website
Relative/friend
Angus Reputable trader Scheme
Post office
Angus Council member of staff
Police
Poster/leaflet
Local neighbourhood watch
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

n = 244
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Fig. 2 shows the most common ways that respondents found out about:-

• the Think Jessica campaign was through Television and National Newspapers
• the Scam Free Angus campaign was through Post Offices and Angus Council Members of Staff
• the No doorstoppers/cold calling campaign was through Local Neighbourhood watches and the Police
• the Angus Reputable Trader Scheme was through the Angus Council Website and local newspaper.

2. SCAMS

a) “Which of the following scams are you aware of?”

Fig. 3 shows that 1% of respondents are not aware of any of the scams described. The scams that people are most aware of
are:-

• Door step sales people or rogue traders (91%)
• Mail scammers promising cash prizes (86%)
• Telephone callers insisting they need bank details (71%)
• Telephone calls offering to repair a major fault in your computer (71%)
• E-mails promising huge sums of money for helping get money out of a foreign country (55%)

Other examples of scams that respondents were aware of were:

• Letter from Africa with extreme sob story asking for money
• Emails pretending to be from friends stranded abroad and needing financial assistance
• Solar panel sales
• Clothes baggers (bogus charity bags)
• BT Internet provision of Broadband
• Esta scams
• Telephone callers with propositions to invest shares (Boiler Room Scam)
• Pay Pal fakes emails asking for bank details
• PPI claims fake e-mails
• Emails saying we have a tax refund
• People offering money to reclaim insurance
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