Re advice on fraud/ cuckooing

[Stomacharmeleon]

Hi all
I work as a volunteer for a small Foodbank/ benefit advice type place and we have had an elderly gentleman in a couple of times (he is 87) His wife died 15 Years ago and he has no local relatives.

He is very quiet and withdrawn.

He has gradually opened up and told me he has an adopted family who he met ten years ago through the local big issue seller.

In a nutshell 'Jessica' has rinsed him for every penny he has. £800 a month roughly. There are numerous mobile phones on his account. His bank account is a mess. Constant withdrawals from 'Jessica'. She is not local... about an hour and a half away... and pops up when he is paid old age pension etc. He is reliant on the food bank.

We spoke to social services last week and they said he had his faculties and could give money to whoever he wanted. By doing some digging I have found out she has previous and has been to prison for fraud and begging. I suspect by name she is Romanian (this is observational merely)

He knows what's happening isn't right but he is being hounded by phone. I don't know what else I can do. Should I talk to the police? I don't know how the bank have not picked it up? He has said she is his only friend :(

He is coming Back next week so I can help address his direct debits which are enormous. And the phone issue. By stopping them alone he would be £200 a month better off.

It's so horrible and I just can't stop thinking about it.

@Casilero I will pm you.

@BillyBraggisnotmylover we are going to speak to the police as we feel we have to.

@TyneTeas I knew someone would say that. We are a little food bank attached to a church. I mostly do attendance allowance and pip forms. Guide people to services. I am a teacher so know about safeguarding and people to talk to but I want to get this right. We would approach social Services as a rule but they were dismissive. It doesn't feel good enough.

Definitely report to the police. I am a solicitor and years ago saw a colleague's client sent to prison for similar to what this woman is doing.

This is so sad. I hope you manage to get it sorted.

He is broke with no end in sight due to numerous contracts with phones etc.

Just on this point - Before you do anything with these, you need to check how they've been set up.

The scam is usually that the person says they've lost/broken their phone, and won't be able to stay in touch; and then some blackmail about how lonely/scared they are, so the vulnerable person will take out a new contract and give them the phone... which means they get an asset, and their phone bill paid for. If that's the case, and the contract is in his name, he can't just cancel it - his credit rating would be impacted, and he could end up with CCJs, and ultimately, it could effect his house ownership. It may be possible for the police to raise a theft report for the device; and the phone company to write off the contract, but it is DIFFICULT, and you'd have to prove he didn't have capacity at the time that he took out the contract and handed over the device.

If they've just added his bank account to pay their bill, that's much easier as he can just cancel, but it's not usually the case.

This happened to my grandparent and both police and social services were useless. They said he had capacity and was giving money away willingly so nothing they could do. In fact he was in early stages of dementia but once the money was gone, it was gone. He ended up with nothing. And that was with interested and engaged family around trying to support.

I’ve had experience with Mash and they can seem to drag their feet, but the one time they responded quickly was when the victim had a commital to prison notice for c/tax - even then it took 5/6 months to get things sorted

this was due to collecting evidence, the abuser always turning up when the authorities were “visiting” as the abuser was making sure his victim didn’t get chance to tell authorities they were being abused.

eventually the authorities managed to take charge of the victims finances by a court order

its really frustrating and I’ve witnessed financial abuse more than once, the abuser grooms the victim, makes them feel guilty and manipulates them.

do keep reporting each occasion he come to food bank and says anything to you, each time is a separate incident.

Op, do you know if your client is ex forces? It might be worth asking. If he is then SSAFA can help him. I'm ex forces and SSAFFA have helped me with finances over the years. I can't praise them too highly. They give advice and grants, and they really go the extra mile to help.

@YouveGotAFastCar have definitely took the contracts out in his name. He told me that. He just wasn't aware how many there were. He is aware he is responsible. Two are with o2 and two with virgin.

Although he has capacity he is confused and you have to talk to him in tiny steps.

@ohsuzannah I know he did military service before becoming a printer. He then worked in the same place for 42 years.

Does he have any paperwork or emails about the phones? Does he have the numbers?
You might find the phone companies surprisingly helpful (or not!) but definitely worth contacting them.

Yes they are all on his direct debits.

I meant details of the phone numbers and contracts? Or is there a reference number on the direct debit?

If he asked for the phones back from these people and they don't give them back then he could report them as stolen,then get the numbers blocked.

I guess if he were unable to get the phone companies to agree that the contracts were taken out under address if he could at least get control back of the accounts then that might prevent further issues.

I think he might be able to get out of the payments if it can be shown he was coerced though,

Then he should be able to get help from a caseworker with Ssafa, I can't speak too highly of them!

@NotEverORNever I only have the bank statements. We live on the coast and this 'family' live nearer to London so no chance of getting actual phones.

I am hoping that if I involve the police they might help with phones and at least cancelling contracts. I think he is worried about the repercussions though although he hasn't directly said that. It's that wary look.

Baby steps anyway.

You have to keep pushing it. With both police and SS. No one can judge his capacity without a proper assessment, so safeguard ing should not have been ruled out at this stage. If he is a Housing Association or council tenant their anti social behavior team should help. They could also help arrange some additional support for him.

Your organisation should have a safeguarding policy and procedure in place, and they should have trained you all in it. If not, this can probably be arranged via your local authority. Your LA should have safeguarding information on their website too. Local PCSO's can be great if you get a good one, as can neighbourhood police officers (if there are any left). Phone and ask to be put through to his local beat team. Once they know him, the good ones will keep a bit of an eye on him. If you explain he is under duress and needs to take it slow they'll start by agreeing to have a chat with him, rather than being all come to the nick and give a statement etc. Good luck, and keep pushing 🙏

Just read this. I'm so glad he has someone like you looking out for him, OP

Not in the UK so have little advice to give but would your client need his locks changed and his keys replaced? And perhaps a chain on the doors if he doesn’t already have them? If the cuckoo is just waltzing in and out with impunity, I am not surprised he is intimidated.

Baby steps, as you say.

Can he make the decision? That's the issue. Making unwise, even very unwise choices, isn't the point, in fact is specifically excluded by legislation. Otherwise a lot of skydivers, bungee jumpers and round the world yachtsmen would be being taken into care.
All the "social services won't do anything, how disgusting" comments would sound very different if social services were trying to stop the commenters doing something they wanted but lots of people thought were bloody stupid, including giving money to people. Social services can't break the law or jump in and freeze bank accounts.

Hi op, I know for a fact the police SHOULD be very interested in this, it is definitely criminal activity and probably connected to organised crime (due to the name of the perpetrator, which the police are well-aware of and they have a duty to deal with it). If you have to, please be persistent to get them involved. The best thing to do is contact "Action Fraud", which is the national reporting centre for fraud, scams and cybercrime (www.actionfraud.police.uk). Thank you for helping this vulnerable person.