UK Pensioners conned out of savings in £100million fraud

UK pensioners conned out of savings in £100m 'Boiler Room' fraud

If you want the fast cars, yachts and private jets - and you don't have the inclination to actually work for a living - how do you go about getting them?

Well if you're 53 year old Richard Pope, you simply find a way to target the most vulnerable people you can find, then you rip them off, empty their savings accounts and leave them destitute.

In fact, his 'boiler room' scam targeted UK pensioners, in some instances taking hundreds of thousands of pounds. The word is that other 'boiler room' operations, some based overseas, are also targeting senior citizens at random in Peterborough.

So how did the crooked Richard Pope do it, and how can you protect yourself?

The 'boiler room' scam is simply using hard-selling telephone techniques to sell victims worthless or non-existent shares. In this instance, Pope invented and set up a company. He then got hold of the details of UK people who had invested in dormant, publicly trading companies in America, and called them in order to pile on the pressure and persuade them to invest.

He created sham websites and bogus brochures to convince people the companies were legitimate investments with huge quick returns, he then conned them to part with money they could not afford to lose.

Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart from the City of London Polices' Economic Crime Directorate, led the investigation into the cruel, heartless scam, said: "The [victims] did not deserve what they have got; they thought they were going to be able to look after their families for years to come with this, but instead many of them have ended up divorced, homeless, or have had to come out of retirement and get jobs. For some of these people there will be no closure. This has scarred them for life. The psychological effects cannot be underestimated. It is the worst case I have dealt with."

So how do you guard against this sort of very convincing scam? Boiler room scams are thought to cost the UK about £200 million a year, so it's worth being alive to the dangers.

The rules on this are simple. It's against the law to cold call someone to try to sell them shares - or indeed any investments - so if someone does this, they are a criminal and you need to hang up immediately. They may be highly knowledgeable and convincing sales people. They may direct you to a professional website and be selling shares on what appears to be a credible exchange. It doesn't matter. This is still a crime.

There are even more giveaway signs. They are likely to have only one real way of getting in touch - whether that's a single phone number or email.

You will never meet them, and they will always have a reason to avoid you, and if you ever try to research the investment elsewhere you will come up against a worrying silence. However, you don't really need these signs. If you - or say an elederly member of your family - gets an unsolicited call, email or letter asking (or inviting...) you to invest, you are being approached by a criminal, and you should have nothing more to do with them but note any contact numbers , website addresses and telephone Police (Cambs. 0845 4564564) or Crimestoppers immediately!

-oOo-

CALL CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111 They will never ask for your name, trace your call, you won't need to go to Court. Registered Independent Charity NOT connected to Police.

(C) Park Farm Neighbourhood Watch,Peterborough,UK Tel: 01733 345581 Skype:Julian.Bray.UK

>> Broadcast ISDN 01733 555319 ISDN Codecs G722&APT

Media Enquiries: Julian Bray 01733 345581 http://tinyurl.com/STANGROUNDPFNW