Dave Woodhall on a secret weapon against telephone fraudsters. 

My mum’s in her eighties. She’s slowing down a bit now but she’s mentally as sharp as ever, and certainly a match for anyone trying to separate her from her money. But others might not be so clever, so take this as a cautionary tale and inform anyone in similar circumstances.

A few weeks ago, her phone rang. It was, apparently someone from the Ombudsman, taking about her supposed PPI claim. “It’s been passed on to us and you’re entitled to compensation,” they said. “Really?” said my mum, and thought no more about it.

A week passed, another call. “This is the Office of Fair Trading. We have a cheque for you for £4,000 for your PPI compensation. It’ll be sent by courier. In fact, we have one due to deliver in your area soon. He can be there within two hours. All you have to do is…”

£250, in case you’re wondering, payable in some obscure bond she could get from the post office “There’s one just down the road from you.”

She rang the police, who were great, taking her details and reassuring her that no-one would be calling to collect £250 or anything else now but giving her a number to call them on if she was bothered in such a way again.

Then last week she was called from a company describing themselves as Telephone Protection Services. For just £99 she could rid herself of nuisance and cold calls.

“Do you work for BT?”

“We work in conjunction with BT, Sky and Virgin Media.”

“And it costs £99 you say?”

“Yes, and it stops nuisance calls.”

“Why should I give you £99 for something that’s free from the Telephone Preference Service and why is your name so similar to theirs?

Click…buzzzzz…

“Hello?”

My mum’s offered to answer as many scam calls as would like to phone her. She’s free most afternoons and likes talking to people. While they’re wasting their time with her they’re not defrauding anyone else.