WASP Bulletin – November 2024 

Alerts 

‘Tom Jones’ Facebook scam 

Hello Resident

Age Cymru officers recently handled a case of an older person who had been targeted by a Facebook scammer posing as singer Tom Jones. 

The person was contacted over Facebook by someone claiming to be Tom Jones. 

Notably, the scammer actually warned the victim about other scammers active in Tom Jones fan groups on Facebook – a detail which contributed to building trust with the victim. 

The scammer then maintained contact with the victim over time, asking them to purchase gift cards and to forward on the card codes. Shockingly, the scam then progressed to a romance scam, resulting in the fraudster proposing marriage to the victim. 

It was at this point that the victim’s daughter discovered what had happened and intervened. The victim received immediate support from the police and from Age Cymru and is now in safe hands. 

We urge partners to keep an eye out for scams taking place over social media, and to be wary of scams that develop over time as the criminal builds trust with the victim. 

If you or someone you know has been the victim of fraud, you should contact Action Fraud online or at 0300 123 20 40. 

Age Cymru’s advice team can be contacted at 0300 303 44 98 or via email at advice@agecymru.org.uk 

Pension Scams and Awareness event (Port Talbot, 5 December) 

What is being done to reduce pension scams and scams in general? How can we help citizens and service users build resilience against financial challenges and scams? What support is available? 

Learn more at our Pension Scams and Awareness event, organised by our 

Consumer Protection function. Speakers across governmental agencies - MaPS 

(Money and Pensions Service), FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and TPR (The Pensions Regulator) will deliver agenda items that will help raise awareness on scams, including pension scams and the industry’s response. 

This is a free event and will be held at the Aberavon Beach Hotel in Port Talbot on Thursday 5 December. 

To book your place, please email consumer.protection@maps.org.uk 

National Safeguarding Week (11-15 November) 

Safeguarding Week is an annual, national campaign focusing on a wide range of safeguarding issues affecting our communities in Wales. 

Each of the Regional Safeguarding Boards co-ordinate a programme of educational and awareness raising activities and events, aimed at the public and professionals. 

Each region decides on a different theme, giving that Safeguarding Board and its partners and agencies within the region the flexibility to arrange events and activities on safeguarding issues pertinent to the services they provide, their service users and their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

You can find out more on the theme for each Safeguarding Board, along with a list of the events and activities that will be taking place in the different regions here. 

#SafeguardingWales 

Resources

Which? Trusted Traders scam alerts service 

Which? Trusted Traders run a free scam alert service, which sends information on the latest scams straight to your inbox. 

You can sign up for scam alerts here. 

For an example from the most recent alert, see: Scamwatch: 'I lost over £7k in an elaborate Facebook Marketplace scam' - Which? News 

This reports the story of someone who lost over £7,000 to a Facebook Marketplace scam - before discovering that her bank would not reimburse her for the lost money. 

As of 7 October 2024, banks and payment firms in the UK are legally obliged to reimburse victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud up to £85,000. 

159 bank number 

Calling 159 works in the same way as 101 for the police or 111 for the NHS. It’s the number you can trust to get you through to your bank safely and securely, every time. So, if you think someone is trying to trick you into handing over money or personal details - stop, hang up and call 159 to speak directly to your bank. 

To find out more about 159 and which UK banks are signed up to the service, see: 

https://stopscamsuk.org.uk/159