Hertfordshire warning over vitamin phone scam

Reports this week have revealed that elderly residents in Hertfordshire are being targeted by an unsolicited phone scam which leads to them paying astonishing amounts of money for vitamins. This is a concern for everybody here at Careline, the national personal alarm company, as it is our aim to help as many people as possible and ensure that the elderly continue to live independently in their home.

In the news reports, Hertfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards have sent out the warning to the elderly following several complaints this year. The main incident mentioned involved a 92-year-old man from Welwyn Garden City, who was charged a total of £650 for multivitamins and Omega 3 capsules.

The elderly victim was charged £41 each for the Omega 3 capsules – which usually cost around £5 in shops. It is said that the hoax caller informs the victims that their information has been passed on by their doctors and that he or she needs to ask them some health and medical questions.

The caller then advises them that they should purchase health supplements such as their vitamins and proceeds to register the victim to their company by taking their bank details. It is believed that the callers then telephone their victims every month to take a new order.

Here are some Careline tips to avoid becoming a victim of this, or any, phone scam:

Ignore the unknown

The best way to avoid being tricked into purchasing products over the phone is to ignore the call. Of course, this is easier if you are being contacted on a mobile phone or on a landline device that has caller ID.

If your phone rings and it is not a number that you recognise then simply ignore it. It may be that the caller’s number appears as a ‘private number’ or ‘no caller ID’ – this is highly suspicious and in most cases will be a scam call.

There are ways now to check a telephone number on the internet. To do this you need to go onto a search engine like Google and type the number into the search bar. If it is a legitimate company/person then their information and website would appear in the search results.

A false number will appear on websites where people leave warnings about spam callers. If using a mobile phone, the next step should be to block the number so that they cannot get hold of you anymore.

On the iPhone, you can do this by pressing on the blue i logo next to the number and selecting the ‘block this caller’ option.

Take a note

If you do decide to answer the phone then try to turn the conversation around by asking plenty of questions. Ask who you are talking to – both the individual and the company – and how they found your telephone number.

You could ask what makes them so good and why you should buy products from them. Whilst they are answering your questions you should be making a note of what they are telling you. This could prove to be very helpful to yourself, if they try to call you again, or to the authorities and your friends.

The scam callers will not like being asked so many questions and may be thrown off course in the process. This will prove that they are not legitimate and they may even decide to end the call before you do.

No bank details

If the person on the other end of the phone line manages to get you to a stage where your bank details are required then you should refuse and end the call as soon as possible. By giving over these vital details you are giving the hoax company access to all of your money… which they will happily take in an instant.

You should use any tactic required to end the phone call. You can say that you would like to think about it before purchasing and end the call or simply tell them that you are no longer interested at all. You do not recognise this company so you should not be giving your details over.

You can even ask questions back when they ask for your details, such as a website name so that you can look at their ‘products’ online. Chances are that the company involved will not have a legitimate website for you to view.

Warn friends and contact the authorities

If you feel like somebody has tried to con you into purchasing expensive vitamins or any other products/services you should warn your friends and family as soon as you can. There is a chance that you received the phone call because they are targeting a certain area of a city of town.

Call your friends and warn them to either ignore random phone calls or to put the phone down as soon as they realise that something is wrong with the call. You should also contact your local police force and trading standards office to give them as much information as you possibly can so that they have a chance of tracking down these criminals.

In the case of Hertfordshire, the reports have asked that victims contact the Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service on 0345 404 0506 and they will pass on the information to trading standards.

Careline hopes that the issues in Hertfordshire as resolved sooner, rather than later so that the elderly can feel safe and confident in their homes.