News

Welsh Club members learn about fraud prevention

Three of our Sporting Memories Wales Clubs recently took part in workshops with the Tarian Fraud Prevent Team to learn more about the impact of fraud and how to avoid scams. 

Steve Benson from ROCU (Regional Organised Crime Unit) - Southern Wales visited our Clubs in Ferndale, Pontypridd and Rogerstone to share his presentation on fraud prevention as well as raising awareness of current scams to protect older people from losing money.

Important to be aware

Fraud now represents 41% of all recorded crime, so the session provided much-needed awareness of how the scammers operate and for members of the public to stay one step ahead and safe from losing money.

Many members across the three Clubs attended the sessions and found them very useful and informative, judging from the feedback provided to Rob Baker, our Project Coordinator in Wales.

Many of our Clubs members had experienced the problems with online fraud, along with the issues of receiving text messages from scammers, and that formed part of the conversations had with Steve during their sessions. Steve was on hand to provide an insight into how to best deal with these emails and messages and alerts when they are received.

Reaction from the sessions

Speaking after the sessions, Rob was pleased the Club members at the three Welsh Clubs took on the important information shared.

“A big thank you to Steve for coming along to our Clubs in Ferndale, Pontypridd and Rogerstone and sharing details on the impact of fraud, but also to make our members aware of some of the ways in which scammers may try to target them.”

“I think the Club members really learned a lot from Steve and hopefully they can take the advice away and avoid any potential issues, as well as share the information with friends and loved ones.”

Steve reflected on his time at the Clubs: “The groups were very interactive and had many examples of how they had been contacted by scammers but had recognised the contact was not genuine and remained safe.

“I am confident that following the input their knowledge has been enhanced and they will be able to pass on their knowledge and keep others secure from scammers.”

To find out more about fraud prevention, visit the ‘Take Five’ website here - https://www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/ or visit the ROCU Cyber Crime page here - https://www.rocu.police.uk/capabilities/cyber-crime/