Vulnerable people should be allowed to place a delay on large payments leaving their bank to protect them from scams, a report says. A carer or family member should be sent a text alerting them to the planned payment, the recommendations suggest. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute, which represents officers, said banks and charities could do more to protect potential victims. The banking industry says a grey area exists in the current rules. Banks are obliged to make payments when customers demand it, but they also want to, and do, protect those who are vulnerable.

'Suckers' lists'

The Trading Standards Institute commissioned a report from Bournemouth University's National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work into scam victims. Its recommendations to financial institutions and charities include:

  • Recognising a duty of care to dementia sufferers who could make an unwise decision as a result of their cognitive state
  • Allowing vulnerable people to put a 24-hour delay on new or large transactions from leaving their bank accounts and banks, sending an email or text alerting a carer or loved one at the start of that period
  • Ensuring personal data is not shared without a clear opt-in and that it is not held for longer than 12 months before permission is sought again, in order to prevent "suckers' lists"


The estimated amount lost to doorstep crimes in a year is £22.1m, but trading standards officers believe losses could be 10 times greater than this. Victims of scam mail have an average age of 74 and have typically lost more than £1,000, according to Trading Standards officers who identified 10,843 victims in the year to April 2015.....Read more here