'Britain's oldest scam victim': 103-year-old in £60,000 scam

Leslie Jubb, a 103-year-old from Welwyn Garden City, has been targeted by scammers, who conned the dementia sufferer out of £60,000. Mr Jubb ended up on a 'suckers' list, which means he has been sent an endless stream of catalogues, promising prizes in return for buying overpriced goods. Over the past 10 years, he has parted with £60,000.

Jubb temporarily went into a care home last September to enable his family to renovate his home. At that point they discovered just what he had lost. They found a house full of incredibly overpriced products (some of which are pictured below), and a pile of scam mail. His bank statements revealed the extent of the scams.

The scam

Nova Jordan, 72, said: "The catalogue companies used to send him prize draws saying that he'd won a plasma TV or a trip somewhere, or he'd won a lot of money." He had been convinced that all he had to do to get his hands on these prizes was to buy expensive items from the catalogues.

Typically this sort of scam will scream in large headlines that there's a guaranteed prize, and that people could receive large cash prizes, holidays or electronics - and all they have to do to enter is to buy something from the catalogue. It's only in the smallest of small print where they reveal the only guaranteed prize is a small sum off your next purchase.

She added: "With dad it's sad really and a lot of it was because he was lonely after my mother passed away and it gave him something to do. I think that's why these scammers target people that are lonely, retired or elderly."

His case has been reported by Hertfordshire County Council, who helped uncover the case when they visited Mr Jubb. His name had been on a 'sucker's list' seized from criminals, and he was one of 1,000 vulnerable people visited by the council hoping to prevent these people falling victim to the schemes. By that time, in Mr Jubb's case, the damage had been done.
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What can you do?

They hope that by revealing the details of the scam, they will help stop other vulnerable elderly people from becoming victims too. Richard Thake, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: "Scams can be very sophisticated and people often don't realise, or don't want to accept, that they're being scammed, so it's important for us to raise awareness of the tactics scammers use."

If you're unsure of whether or not you have been a victim of a scam, Action Fraud has a useful list of common scams targeting individuals, ranging from insurance broker scams to pension liberation schemes and auction fraud. It's worth checking this list, and looking for the telltale signs you could be a victim.

Thake added that if anyone thinks they may have been the victim of a scam, they should call the Citizens Advice service on 03454 040506, and said: "Remember if it seems too good to be true – it probably is. As long as people carry on responding these unscrupulous companies will keep going."

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