Mid and East Antrim Agewell Partnership's 'ScamSavvy' text alert service helps protect older people from fraud
A text alert service designed to help protect older people from becoming victims of fraud is being highlighted by the Mid and East Antrim Agewell Partnership.
Agewell’s ‘ScamSavvy’ service provides a weekly text message highlighting the scams that are currently in circulation.
Jenny Marshall, Executive Director of Community Programmes at Agewell said that the idea grew from a similar service that operated during the Covid pandemic, when restrictions were frequently changing. “What we did at that time was get the information on restrictions from the Public Health Agency and essentially ‘demystified’ them for older people; that information was then sent out as a text message,” she added.
“Fast forward a few years and scams are something that are very prevalent for us because of the people we work with. The problem is they move very fast so you are constantly battling the next scam; you could print out literature on the scams that are out there, but it’d very quickly be out of date.
"A text message goes directly into the hands of people who need it, and can be easily shared with family and friends.”
More information on the ScamSavvy service is available on Agewell’s website.
The organisation works with local PSNI officers to identify current scams – some of which can be very localised.
Jenny described a recent incident in Larne, which saw residents contacted and asked up front for cash towards a craft fair in a local community centre. When the information was flagged with Agewell, the fair did not exist.
Meanwhile, the increasing level of sophistication in scams has led to some older people becoming fearful that they will fall victim to fraud. “For us there’s a real loneliness factor to it; people are so afraid of being scammed that they retreat into themselves and are afraid to answer the door or the phone, or to go online,” Jenny added.
However, the immediacy of the text alerts, with Agewell as a trusted source, has meant that many of the service’s users have themselves become more ‘savvy’ at spotting scams.
As well as offering wellbeing support to those who have been the victims of fraud, Agewell can also install a call blocking service to prevent nuisance calls.
For more information on any of Agewell’s services, contact the office on 028 2565 8604.