Adult Protection Committee

The BBC have launched a ‘scam safe week.’ The link below takes you to the web site. There is tons of advice and really good videos.

BBC - Be Scam Safe

Police Scotland has seen a rise in scammers impersonating police officers. Below and attached you will find advice on checking an officer's identity.

Police Scotland have also shared a video, the little guide to avoiding impersonation fraud, which you can watch by clicking the following link: https://biteable.com/watch/3449618/c01f1e13a725df1d4882e64fa00460c2

How to check an officer’s identity

If Police Scotland contact you, they will do so in person, by phone or by email. This will depend on the circumstances surrounding why they need to contact you.

Contact in person

If an officer contacts you in person, they’ll show you their police warrant card. This is proof of their identity and authority and you can verify this by dialling 101.

Contact by phone and Email

If an officer needs to speak to you on the phone or by email, they'll identify themselves clearly.

They will never:

• ask you for your bank details or PIN

• ask you to transfer funds to another account

• ask you to hand over cash or bank cards to a courier

• ask you to pay a fine or a fee to them or a third party over the phone or online

• ask you for remote access to your computer, passwords or log on details over the phone or online

• ask you to register personal details in an attachment they send or website they direct towards

• ask you to 'assist' in an investigation by doing any of the above

• communicate in an abusive, threatening or coercive manner

• ask you to click on a hyperlink to participate in an investigation

Remember if you're unsure about whether the person you're dealing with is a genuine police officer – stop – and call 101 to check their identity. You should also contact 101 if you think you've been a victim of fraud.

Trading Standards were recently contacted by a resident in the Formartine area about a simple but notable roofing scam. The resident’s elderly neighbour had been contacted at home by a roofer who called at the address about work which the roofer believed was apparently required on the resident’s roof. The work was agreed and apparently completed and the neighbour paid the roofer by cheque for a 4 figure sum.

The roofer returned to the neighbour’s the next day and complained that the bank would not cash the cheque, so he would need a fresh cheque to cover his costs. Notably, the roofer did not return the first cheque but the neighbour duly obliged with a second cheque and the roofer left. However, he returned the next day to say the bank would not cash the second cheque either, so he would need a third cheque to cover the original costs. The roofer did not return the second cheque either. It was at this point that the resident, who was visiting his neighbour, intervened and called the conversation to a halt. He asked the roofer to leave or he would call the Police, so the roofer left.

The resident then helped his neighbour to contact his bank and report the matter. It appears that the roofer had presented the first cheque, which had cleared but the bank stopped the second cheque, which hadn’t yet cleared.

The obvious intent of the roofer was to extract as many cheques as possible from the vulnerable neighbour, thereby doubling or tripling his profits in the process.

Some points to consider:

• Our advice remains the same; as this incident demonstrates, dealing with doorstep callers is a highly risky business. Far safer to just thank them for their concern and say, “No thanks”,

• Take haggling out of the equation. Tell the caller that you have a relative who’s in that line of work and in this cost of living crisis, you’d like them to look at the issue instead,

• DO NOT discuss prices, so you remove the opportunity for the caller to say that they ‘will do it cheaper’,

• If the caller becomes persistent, tell them you have a visitor and you really must go back indoors,

• Alternatively, tell them you have a pot boiling on the stove and you’re worried it might boil over,

• If the caller becomes insistent, tell them you will call the Police (and mean it). If necessary, call the Police,

• DO NOT be afraid to close the door on the caller. They have had enough of your time, just remember to lock it too,

• Try to note as much detail as you can about the caller, their appearance and their vehicles and keep any paperwork they might hand over to you.

Report the matter to Police Scotland or Trading Standards, so that they can collate these reports and consider taking action against the caller.

Financial Harm is one of the most prevalent types of harm perpetrated against vulnerable adults – and across members of the wider community – and can occur under many guises.

Our aim is to achieve an effective & coordinated approach to preventing & responding to Financial Harm & minimising its impact, especially in relation to vulnerable adults, across Grampian. Action relating to this aim will be led by the Grampian Financial Harm Sub Group of the APCs. Core members of the Financial Harm Sub Group are:

• Aberdeen City Council (Adult Protection Social Work & Trading Standards); • Aberdeenshire Council (Adult Protection Network & Trading Standards); • Moray Council (Adult Protection Network & Trading Standards); • NHS Grampian; and • Police Scotland (Partnerships and Interventions & Crime Reductions Unit

The Grampian Financial Harm Group welcomes the publication of the Grampian Financial Harm Strategy. The Strategy and Financial Harm Group recognises the need to tackle Financial Harm and it's impact, which can be devastating.

National Hoarding and Awareness Week is running from the 15th May. If you have an interest in this topic please visit the website and download the official involvement pack which contain a number of excellent resources and information about free webinars that are running during the week.http://hoardingawarenessweek.org.uk/

In Aberdeenshire a Self-Neglect Review Group was appointed by the Aberdeenshire Adult Protection Committee last year and we are currently gathering evidence regarding best practice. If you would like more information about the work that is occurring in Aberdeenshire to reduce the impact of self neglect please contact annmarie.bruce@aberdeenshire.gov.uk.

http://publications.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/dataset/aberdeenshire-adult-protection-committee-2020

The Aberdeenshire Adult Protection Committee is please to announce that their Biennial Report 2020- 22 has been published. This report gives an overview of ASP activity in Aberdeenshire, what we have achieved over the last 2 years and what priorities are currently being taken forward.

Today is Carers Rights Day, a national campaign to raise awareness on the rights of unpaid adult carers and young carers and to let carers know where to get support. The theme this year is Caring Costs – to highlight the many ways caring can cost, from wellbeing to financial costs, particularly with the current cost of living crisis.

A carer, also known as an unpaid carer, is generally defined as someone who provides, or intends to provide, care for another individual. They may care for an older person, someone who is disabled, has a long-term illness, mental health issue or is affected by alcohol or drug misuse. Adult carers are aged 18 and over and young carers are children or young people under the age of 18, or 18 if still at school.

Caring includes physical, practical, and emotional support. It could be for a few hours a week, such as picking up prescriptions and preparing meals, to providing emotional or personal care, day and night, 365 days a year. We all probably know someone who provides care to another person. Some people don’t realise they are carers and consider the support they provide to be “just something they do” for family or a friend. It is estimated that there are approximately 800,000 unpaid carers in Scotland, with many juggling works with caring responsibilities, and nearly a third of carers say their mental health has suffered.

Carers’ Rights and Legislation

The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 came into force in 2018 and provided new rights to carers such as an Adult Carer Support Plan or Young Carer Statement if under age 18, or 18 and still at school. These identify carers’ needs and personal outcomes and are available to carers of all ages, no matter how many hours of care they provide. Other Carers Act duties include supporting carers by means of local eligibility criteria, preparation of local carer strategies, information and advice service for carers and a duty to involve carers in the hospital discharge of the person they care for. For more information visit Aberdeenshire. Council - Carers;' Rights and Legislation.

Carer Support Organisations

Quarriers are commissioned to provide a carer support service to unpaid adult carers and young carers in Aberdeenshire. Quarriers can support carers to complete an Adult Carer Support Plan or Young Carer Statement, which look at the carer’s roles, how it affects them and what support might be needed. Quarriers can also offer advice, information, and resources to carers, develops skills and confidence, assist carers to complete an emergency plan and provide opportunities to meet other carers. Meetings can be online or in person and include carer support cafes, mindfulness groups and activity sessions for young carers. For more information visit Quarriers Aberdeenshire Carer Support Service, Tel 01467 538700 or email aberdeenshirecarers@quarriers.org.uk

Quarriers also provide carer support for adult carers and young carers in Moray and adult carers in Aberdeen City. For other local authority areas or to join the Aberdeenshire Council Carer Support mailing list contact carersupport@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Carer Support Information can also be found on Aberdeenshire Council Caring For Others, NHS Grampian Information For Carers, and Carers UK / Carers Scotland webpages.