Councillor Sally Haydon, Cabinet Member for Customer Focus and Community Safety and Dr Ruth Harrell, Director for Public Health at Plymouth City Council have joined the Friends Against Scams campaign, an initiative that aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering communities to ‘Take a Stand Against Scams’.
As SCAMbassadors, Cllr Haydon and Dr Harrell have joined the National Trading Standards (NTS) Scams Team and others to protect everyone from scams and the damage they cause. Cllr Haydon and Dr Harrell will be able to work with members the people of Plymouth to educate and support those who may be vulnerable to scams.
Each year scams cost UK consumers between £5 billion and £10 billion. In addition to the financial impact, scams can have a severe emotional and psychological impact on victims.
Cllr Haydon said: “Scams are often targeted at some of the most vulnerable people in Plymouth, but the reality is that any one of us can become a victim of scams.
“Scams damage lives and can affect people financially and emotionally, so I am really pleased that Plymouth has joined in with the work of the National Trading Standards Scams Team to prevent people from being victims of scams. By signing up as a SCAMbassador, I pledge to help make Plymouth a scam-free constituency.”
Louise Baxter, Team Manager, National Trading Standards Scams Team said: “The tactics used by scammers leave victims socially isolated and ashamed of telling their friends and families what’s really going on behind closed doors.
“It is fantastic to have such influential figures in the community to help us tackle this problem on a Plymouth level and I would encourage all those that are interested in showing their support to join the campaign and be part of our growing ‘friends’ network.”
