They were conning the woman through a clairvoyant scam, where people pose as spiritual guides offering insights into a person’s life and the future.
They typically target the elderly and lonely via mass mailshot letters, often using an image of someone who looks trustworthy to pose as a clairvoyant.
In this case it was British actress and model Carol-Anne Goodman, who had no idea her image was being used, and who is backing the Trading Standards campaign to crackdown on the scammers.
Sally is a community support worker for Caring Moments Ltd, a domiciliary care provider based in Lowestoft which cares for 60 users around the Waveney valley area.
She was assigned to care for the woman and became suspicious when on one visit the victim handed her some post to send and when she returned to her car £45 in cash fell out from a pre-paid envelope.
Sally, of Lowestoft, said:
“I just knew there was something incredibly wrong for her to be sending cash to someone I knew she did not know.
“I took it straight to Paul, who then got in touch with Trading Standards, and it quickly became evident that it was a scam.
“The people behind this are very cunning and brutal. The woman even had a picture of one of the scammers by her bed because he said he loved her. How could somebody be as evil as that?”
Paul had attended training given by Suffolk Trading Standards officer Lesley Crompton and recognised the victim was sending money to clairvoyant scammers.
Lesley worked with the team at Caring Moments to put support and prevention in place to prevent the victim sending any further money, and they have helped provide statements for an international investigation. It is estimated that the victim has sent over £48,000 over several years.
The victim, who has since celebrated her 103rd birthday, now has means to sort her mail, and every letter that she thinks might be a scam is placed in a box for the care team to check when they visit.
Paul said:
“Sally came to me as soon as she became concerned, and based on the training I had received I gave the Trading Standards team a call.
“We don’t see this sort of thing very often as most of our service users have family nearby who can keep an eye out for things like this, but this lady’s family live miles away so she was looking after her own post.
“Hopefully this case will open the eyes of those who have, or look after, elderly and vulnerable people and what to do when they spot it.”
Sally has since appeared on ITV’s This Morning show to help highlight the ongoing investigation into clairvoyant scams that is being coordinated by the National Trading Standards Scam Team.
In August, Suffolk Trading Standards presented Sally and Paul with flowers and ‘Suffolk Says Thanks’ badges for their intervention.
The teams also nominated them for a Certificate of Merit at the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service Awards, which they will be collecting at the ceremony on September 27.
Councillor Andrew Reid, Suffolk County Council Cabinet Member for Public Health and Public Protection, said:
“Sadly, these sorts of scams are all too common and are particularly unpleasant as they prey on such vulnerable people.
“I applaud Sally and Paul for the way they stepped in as soon as they realised something was not right and for letting Trading Standards know so that something could be done.
“Trading Standards will pursue the scammers at every turn to ensure that, wherever possible, they do not get away with their disgraceful behaviour.”
Suffolk Trading Standards encourages people to join the fight against scammers by signing up to become a Trading Standards Champion.
For more details go to the Trading Standards website at www.suffolk.gov.uk/JoinTheFight
