North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has joined the Friends Against Scams campaign, an initiative that aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering communities to ‘Take a Stand Against Scams’.
Having accepted an invitation to become a ‘SCAMbassador’, Mr Isherwood has joined the National Trading Standards (NTS) Scams Team (Wales), the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) and others in a cross-party network to protect everyone from scams and the damage they cause, working locally and nationally to educate and support those who may be vulnerable to scams.
Each year scams cause between £5bn and £10bn worth of detriment to UK consumers. In addition to the financial impact, scams can have a severe emotional and psychological impact on victims.
Mr Isherwood said:
“Scams often target the most vulnerable people in society but the reality is that anyone can become a victim of scams.
“Scams damage lives and can affect people financially and emotionally so it is with great pride that I have joined the work of the National Trading Standards Scams Team, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and others who are working together to prevent people from being victims of scams. By signing up as a ‘SCAMbassador’ I will seek to influence and drive forward changes in policy to reduce the effect of scams on people in North Wales and beyond.”
Louise Baxter, Team Manager, National Trading Standards Scams Team said, “The tactics used by scammers leave victims socially isolated and ashamed of telling their friends and families what’s really going on behind closed doors.
“It is fantastic to have such an influential figure in the community to help us tackle this problem on a local, regional and national level and I would encourage all those who are interested in showing their support to join the campaign and be part of our growing network.”
ENDS