Fake lotteries, cash prizes and psychics are the subject of a new financial warning from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The organisation said in a new report that many vulnerable members of society, including the elderly, face being preyed on by unscrupulous confidence tricksters - losing around £3.5 billion a year. This equates to the average victim losing £850 - a sum which, the OFT pointed out, was enough to cover many people's entire Christmas costs.
Commenting on the issue, the director general of Age Concern Gordon Lishman said: "Many people feel they could never be scammed, however millions become victims. People of any age [can] be conned, but unfortunately unscrupulous fraudsters often target older people. The best defence is to know what to look out for, and always remember that if it sounds too good to be true it almost certainly is."
Mike Haley, head of consumer protection at the OFT, added: "Christmas is special time of the year but unfortunately it is also a period when many people feel under financial and emotional pressure. It's also an opportune time for would-be scammers to prey on people's vulnerability with bogus prize, gift and cash offers."
Additionally, the OFT warned that many "miracle slimming products" currently being advertised are in fact nothing of the sort and only serve to con people out of money. The body also said that the effects of the scams on their victims can go beyond the financial - and lead to a destructive loss of confidence and self-esteem.
