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Banks and Dementia sufferers
I thought the banks were told to help the sufferers of Dementia and their families.
Well not the case.
My mother in her eighties has Vascular Dementia (VD) which is caused by a series of small strokes or transient ischaemic attacks (TIA), which cause parts of the brain to die. Symptoms are loss of memory and general slowness.
Anyway, when we can get to loom at her bank details, we find lots of payments to different 'charities' which we know nothing about. One is the Association for International Cancer Research, which every few months puts in a few debits, £10, £15 or £20. What is this, when was it started, by whom. We believe it is from a contribution to one of those louts that accost you in the street, and the bank details have been used repeatedly instead of just once. They then pass on the details to the sicko scammers who prey on such vulnerable people.
Well after approaching the bank several times, they refuse to do anything until/unless the account holder is present. Eventually we managed to 'scare' my mother into going to the bank with the intention of changing the account so that the debits would stop, along with those of Vital Nature which send rubbish on a monthly basis for an amount 15 times that which it costs at Holland & Barrett, and is equally ineffective.
The nice lady at the bank, entertained us, rather than our mother, but said they could not do anything without her bodily presence. She gave us copies of the account statements (may be on a quarterly or may be on a 50-item basis, perhaps), she marked up suspect debits, that she had seem on the accounts of other such vulnerable persons. However, when asked about changing the account, she said there was no point, as because the nasty men have my mother's details, if the account were to change, the nice bank would merely apply the suspect debits to the new account.
What we were told to do by the nice lady was to write to all the slimeballs and tell them we no longer required their products and services/wished to donate to them. Try finding the contact detail without a computer. Only when we next notice a debit on the statement should we go back to the bank with a copy of the letter, and then they will reverse the payment and put a block on future payments.
SO WHAT IS THE POINT OF AN INDIVIDUAL/UNIQUE BANK ACCOUNT?????? WHAT IS THE PROTECTION THE BANK OFFERS TO DEMENTIA SUFFERERS?????????????
Yes I am shouting. This is not a right to set off issue, is it?
If account details have changed, why does the bank consider it is in their remit to swap debits over to a new account when they know why the change was requested, just because a slimeball wants to use details to defraud. Surely in such a case the bank is guilty of aiding an abetting.
20000 old ladies paying £15 every couple of months = loads of money. As is 20000 old ladies being sent fluffy, microwaveable bed socks and a meercat ashtray for a cancellable debit of £35, after finding the address in the Netherlands and paying for the return postage and packing as well as the initial postage and packing.
Such scams are not just evil they are planned to prey on people who can't sort out their problems, and unfortunately steal the money put aside for food and heating from these vulnerable pensioners. How galling that the electoral register is sold to slimeballs for a pittance, and it contains the names, addresses and, in many cases, the ages of people living in UK properties, identifying where the person is living alone, as there are no other persons at that address. A simple computer sort can identify the vulnerable.
Well not the case.
My mother in her eighties has Vascular Dementia (VD) which is caused by a series of small strokes or transient ischaemic attacks (TIA), which cause parts of the brain to die. Symptoms are loss of memory and general slowness.
Anyway, when we can get to loom at her bank details, we find lots of payments to different 'charities' which we know nothing about. One is the Association for International Cancer Research, which every few months puts in a few debits, £10, £15 or £20. What is this, when was it started, by whom. We believe it is from a contribution to one of those louts that accost you in the street, and the bank details have been used repeatedly instead of just once. They then pass on the details to the sicko scammers who prey on such vulnerable people.
Well after approaching the bank several times, they refuse to do anything until/unless the account holder is present. Eventually we managed to 'scare' my mother into going to the bank with the intention of changing the account so that the debits would stop, along with those of Vital Nature which send rubbish on a monthly basis for an amount 15 times that which it costs at Holland & Barrett, and is equally ineffective.
The nice lady at the bank, entertained us, rather than our mother, but said they could not do anything without her bodily presence. She gave us copies of the account statements (may be on a quarterly or may be on a 50-item basis, perhaps), she marked up suspect debits, that she had seem on the accounts of other such vulnerable persons. However, when asked about changing the account, she said there was no point, as because the nasty men have my mother's details, if the account were to change, the nice bank would merely apply the suspect debits to the new account.
What we were told to do by the nice lady was to write to all the slimeballs and tell them we no longer required their products and services/wished to donate to them. Try finding the contact detail without a computer. Only when we next notice a debit on the statement should we go back to the bank with a copy of the letter, and then they will reverse the payment and put a block on future payments.
SO WHAT IS THE POINT OF AN INDIVIDUAL/UNIQUE BANK ACCOUNT?????? WHAT IS THE PROTECTION THE BANK OFFERS TO DEMENTIA SUFFERERS?????????????
Yes I am shouting. This is not a right to set off issue, is it?
If account details have changed, why does the bank consider it is in their remit to swap debits over to a new account when they know why the change was requested, just because a slimeball wants to use details to defraud. Surely in such a case the bank is guilty of aiding an abetting.
20000 old ladies paying £15 every couple of months = loads of money. As is 20000 old ladies being sent fluffy, microwaveable bed socks and a meercat ashtray for a cancellable debit of £35, after finding the address in the Netherlands and paying for the return postage and packing as well as the initial postage and packing.
Such scams are not just evil they are planned to prey on people who can't sort out their problems, and unfortunately steal the money put aside for food and heating from these vulnerable pensioners. How galling that the electoral register is sold to slimeballs for a pittance, and it contains the names, addresses and, in many cases, the ages of people living in UK properties, identifying where the person is living alone, as there are no other persons at that address. A simple computer sort can identify the vulnerable.
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