Nuisance calls make up 40% of calls to elderly

AN investigation by Angus Council has revealed that about 40 per cent of the phone calls received by older and vulnerable residents in the area are nuisance calls - four times the national average.

Picture: PA

And there are fears that pensioners and the vulnerable are being deliberately targeted by unscrupulous cold calling companies

The research was carried out as part of the council’s zero-tolerance campaign against scams and cold calling.

Earlier this year, Angus became the first authority in Scotland to adopt a new policy setting out how it will target scammers and protect residents.

A spokeswoman for Angus Council explained: “Recently trading standards officers carried out a pilot scheme to evaluate the level of nuisance phone calls received by residents, and to investigate the effectiveness of commercial call blocking products. The pilot identified that one of the systems used successfully blocked over 95 per cent of the nuisance calls, and the council is now looking at ways to make this technology more widely available to vulnerable citizens.”

Councillor Mairi Evans, the administration’s spokeswoman on consumer protection, said: “Alarmingly, there appeared to be evidence that the more vulnerable residents were being specifically targeted by these nuisance callers.

“As well as the potential for financial harm, these calls can cause unnecessary stress and anxiety to those receiving them. The council believes that the toll this takes on the health and wellbeing of our vulnerable citizens is unacceptable.”

Ms Evans said the feedback from residents and their carers who took part in the trial had been very positive.

She continued: “The council will now investigate how call blocking technology can be provided to its most vulnerable citizens.It will also raise awareness of the technology so that all residents can consider protecting themselves from nuisance calls.

“This is a ground breaking piece of work that had implications for councils, the health and social services service as well as enforcers and regulators across the UK. No studies of this sort have been carried out before, and I am proud that once again Angus is leading the way in identifying ways to protect our most defenceless residents.”

Ms Evans added: ““We will now work with the local and national organisations to investigate funding options to make call blocking technology available to vulnerable citizens.”