Helping scammed back on their feet

A Pinchbeck woman who volunteers with the police to help vulnerable victims of scams repeatedly uses just three words to describe her work: “I love it.”

Chris Taylor has been volunteering with Lincolnshire Police’s REVIVE scam victim support service – the only such service in the country – for eight months.

Volunteers receive training to help the district’s most vulnerable people and from the huge folder that details scores of known scams, Chris said she has seem almost all of them used.
Scammers target the elderly, the lonely, the developmentally challenged and even dementia suffers, Chris said.

She said a lot of scam victims don’t report the crime, due to embarrassment or not knowing where to turn. The REVIVE service is there to assist them, Chris said, and urges people to report all scams.

Once a victim has been identified as in need of support, a PCSO will refer them to REVIVE, and Chris works with them on a weekly basis, usually for around three months.

“The greatest skill needed for this job is to listen,” she said. “It’s quite a privilege. One family said they felt like we were the only people trying to help them.”

Working with her clients, Chris provides leaflets and door stickers, helps change numbers and works with them to develop the skills to scrutinise deals and people.

“If it seems too good to be true, it is,” she offers as a healthy rule.

To report a scam, contact the police on 101.