New STV series helps fight financial fraud
STV will shine a light on financial fraud as Stopping Scotland’s Scammers returns for a second series tonight (Monday 29 February).
In four 30 minute episodes, presenter Jackie Brambles (above) meets with victims of online, phone and romance scams and speaks to industry experts who provide practical advice on how to protect yourself against financial fraud.
Among the victims featured in the series are Scottish comedy duo The Krankies who lost £3,000 after a scammer, while parked outside their house, hacked into the couple’s wifi and accessed their credit card details.
The Krankies’ Ian Tough said: “We were both shocked when we realised what had happened; that someone had managed to take all that money from us just by sitting outside our house with a laptop. It was a real wake up call. Hopefully by telling our story on the programme we can help others realise how easy it is to be scammed and how important it is to change your passwords.”
Viewers will also hear real life stories from victims of financial scams including Karen, who booked and paid nearly £900 in deposit for holiday lodges for her 50th birthday celebration, only to discover the lodges didn’t actually exist; and Kristine, whose mum gave away £6,500 to scammers after being told over the phone she had won £300,000.
The series features the harrowing story of teenager Daniel Perry who was blackmailed online and committed suicide as a result. Jackie meets Lorin LaFave, whose 14-year-old son was groomed and killed by an online predator in 2014 and who campaigns to improve internet safety.
Jackie Brambles said: “Since our first series of Stopping Scotland’s Scammers last year, two remarkable things have happened. Firstly, we’ve been absolutely inundated with stories of people who have been ripped off and are keen to share their stories in the hopes of preventing somebody else from also falling foul of these frauds.
“We’re incredibly grateful to our contributors, whose courage of conviction to help others was stronger than the sense of humiliation that they were left with after these scammers robbed them of both their money and their dignity.
“The second point is one that we really want to drive home to the viewers at home – you can’t rest on your laurels because every time we learn how to protect ourselves from one scam, these cyber-criminals up the ante and create something even more diabolical.
“The second series will cover the bewildering array of ongoing financial scams, from holiday homes that don’t exist to small businesses being held to ransom. We’ll be speaking to a scammer who has agreed to share his devious romance scam techniques with us and we also felt compelled to address every parent’s nightmare scenario of their child being targeted online.
“Whilst we don’t want to scare people, we do want them to tune in and follow the recommendations that our experts will share on the show on how to protect themselves and their loved ones online, starting with cultivating a healthy skepticism on anything that appears too good to be true – because in every single case that we have investigated, it always was.”
Elizabeth Partyka, deputy director of channels at STV, said: “The series is a must watch for viewers who want to learn more about the world of modern fraud and receive practical help and advice from experts on how to avoid scams and what to do if they fall victim to one.”
Stopping Scotland’s Scammers is sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland.
Chris Wilson, MD of branch and private banking Scotland, said: “I am delighted that Royal Bank of Scotland is renewing its support of STV’s Stopping Scotland’s Scammers. It is increasingly difficult to identify and deal with the wide range of sophisticated methods that fraudsters will employ to get their hands on our customers hard earned money.
“Keeping our customers’ money safe is hugely important to us. This series will continue to shine a spotlight on these horrible scams, educate viewers on how to spot them and also continue to remove the stigma people often have if they’ve been a victim of fraud.”
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