Helping an older relative or someone else who has been targeted

When someone you care about has been scammed, the practical help they need usually comes from several places at once: emotional support from Victim Support, which offers free and confidential help 24 hours a day¹; information for older people and their families from the Age UK Advice Line on 0800 169 2081²; scam guidance and referrals to Trading Standards from Citizens Advice³; and free, non-judgemental advice from MoneyHelper's Financial Crimes and Scams Unit on 0800 015 4402⁴. None of these services charges the person who has been scammed, and none of them requires the scam to have been reported to the police first.

Support matters as much as the money. Research published by the Money and Pensions Service found that one in three people would be uncomfortable telling friends they have been scammed⁵, which is one reason many victims never tell anyone. A government study of fraud victims found most were not aware of the support available to them and had not been offered support when they reported the crime⁶. Knowing who to call, and what each service can actually do, closes that gap.

Where a scam victim can get free help

The first call after a scam is usually to the bank. The Payment Systems Regulator's guidance for victims is to contact the bank immediately to report the scam¹⁰, and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme makes the same point: speak to your bank, building society or credit union, as they can protect and reimburse victims of certain types of fraud¹¹. The dedicated guide to first steps for victims covers exactly what to do in the first hours.

Alongside the bank, several free services exist purely to support the person rather than to investigate the crime. Victim Support offers free practical and emotional support for scam victims¹. MoneyHelper, the government-backed money guidance service, encourages people affected by scams to talk to an expert for free, non-judgemental, confidential support¹². For someone in acute distress, Samaritans runs a 24-hour helpline on 116 123 for confidential emotional support¹³.

Which of these fits depends on what the person needs most:

One thing to be careful of: some victims are targeted a second time by firms offering to recover the money they lost, usually for an upfront fee. The page on recovery room scams and the guide to paid scam recovery firms explain why these offers are themselves a well-known fraud pattern.

Victim Support: free, confidential support 24 hours a day

Victim Support is an independent charity that supports victims of crime¹⁴. It provides 24/7 free and confidential support to victims and witnesses of crime in England and Wales⁷, and guidance for carers describes it as a free confidential service available to talk the experience through¹⁵. For many scam victims, this is the one place where the conversation is entirely about them: how the scam has left them feeling, and what practical help might look like.

There are two main routes in. If the victim reports the scam to Action Fraud, Action Fraud passes their details on and Victim Support will then contact them to offer free, emotional and practical support¹⁶. If they have not reported it, they can contact Victim Support directly in England or Wales¹⁶. A family member or friend can also make contact on the victim's behalf, which matters where the person is too embarrassed or shaken to pick up the phone themselves.

The emotional side of being scammed is easy to underestimate. The Money and Pensions Service has highlighted that shame keeps many victims silent⁵, and government research found most victims were never told about the support that existed⁶. A service that is free, confidential and available at any hour addresses both problems at once: there is no cost to trying it, and nothing said goes back to family, the bank or the police without the victim's agreement.

What Victim Support can and cannot do

Victim Support's role is support, not investigation and not refunds. It does not recover money, decide complaints against banks, or take over the reporting process. Those jobs belong to other bodies, and it helps to know which is which before expectations are set.

Money recovery runs through the bank or payment provider first. If the victim is unhappy with how the bank or payment services provider handled a scam where they were tricked into making a payment, the Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help¹⁷. The ombudsman can also help with disputes about payments the consumer did not authorise that were not part of a scam¹⁴, and it can still help where reimbursement rules do not apply, such as me-to-me scams, card payments to genuine merchants, overseas payments and cash withdrawals handed to a scammer¹⁷.

The rules on bank transfer refunds have their own machinery. A Payment Systems Regulator consultation proposed that there should be mandatory reimbursement for victims of scams who have done nothing wrong¹⁸, and the scheme rules set eligibility conditions, including that the victim is not claiming fraudulently or dishonestly to have been defrauded¹⁹. The guides to APP reimbursement, claiming a refund and complaining to your bank cover this in detail.

Where a financial firm has failed, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme also has a support role: while an investigation is ongoing, it contacts any identified individuals to notify them and offer help and support¹¹. So even the compensation scheme treats contact and reassurance as part of its job, not just payouts.

Victim Support helps even if the scam was not reported

A common and damaging belief is that support is only for people who have gone to the police. It is not true: victims do not have to have reported the scam to get support¹. This matters because reporting can feel like a step too far for someone who is ashamed, or who fears being judged for having been deceived, and support should not be held hostage to it.

The steps after a scam, in the order they matter, look like this:

The official guidance sets out the immediate steps: contact your bank or payment services provider immediately, contact the police on 101, report the scam to Report Fraud, and keep records of all contact and correspondence between you and the scammer²⁰. Reporting routes also exist for specific fraud types: HMRC runs a service for reporting tax fraud, and its instructions are precise about what to send, stating "Do not send supporting information. You can tell HMRC if you have any when you make your report."²²

The government's stated policy aim on scam reimbursement is "ensuring victims are not left paying for fraud through no fault of their own"²³. Support services sit alongside that aim: whatever happens to the money, the person is treated as a victim, not as someone who has to prove they deserved help.

Age UK: help for older people and those supporting them

Age UK can give you information if you are helping an older person, and its website has useful fact sheets². The free and confidential Advice Line on 0800 169 2081 serves older people themselves, their friends, carers and professionals², so a son, daughter or neighbour can call without the older person having to make the call. Lines are open 8am to 7pm, 365 days a year⁸, and there are specialist advisers at over 120 local Age UKs⁸.

Age UK's advice service covers England only², which matters if your relative lives elsewhere: in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the equivalent help comes from other bodies, covered later on this page. Local Age UKs also provide practical help of their own. Age UK Buckinghamshire, for example, provides information and advice to people over 60, their family and carers, and can help with completing benefit forms and understanding eligibility criteria²⁴. If a scam has left someone's finances in a mess, that kind of benefits check is often the most useful next step.

For anyone calling on behalf of someone who does not speak English, Age UK works with Wordskii to offer free interpreted calls⁸. The caller does not need to arrange an interpreter themselves or pay for one.

It also helps to know how the system sees this problem. The government has advised that internet scams, postal scams and doorstep crime are all forms of financial abuse, and they are often targeted at adults who need care and support⁷. That means adult social services has a safeguarding role where the victim is an adult with care needs, and a call to the local council is a legitimate route for a worried relative, not an overreaction. The page on financial abuse covers this in more depth.

Citizens Advice: scam advice and reporting to Trading Standards

Citizens Advice offers guidance on what to do if you have been scammed¹⁴, and its advice is free and confidential. Citizens Advice Bureaux provide free and confidential advice to people about their rights and responsibilities³, and the network is substantial: there are over 500 Citizens Advice centres in the UK today, all registered charities, funded by local authorities, the Legal Services Commission, lottery funding, primary care trusts, charitable trusts, private companies and individuals³. Advice is offered face to face, over the phone on 0808 223 1133, and by email³.

The part many people do not know about is the Trading Standards connection. Citizens Advice can refer your complaint to local Trading Standards Officers, who may then investigate on your behalf²⁵, and it shares complaint information nationally with enforcement authorities, including Trading Standards, the Competitions and Markets Authority and regulators, so that action can be taken²⁵. The Information Commissioner's Office likewise directs complaints about a business's practices to Trading Standards through Citizens Advice²⁶. Local councils make the same point: Carmarthenshire's trading standards team tells residents that if you or a family member have been a victim of a scam, it is important that you report the matter to Citizens Advice²⁷.

The phone numbers differ by nation: 0800 144 8848 in England, 0800 702 2020 in Wales, and 0800 028 1456 in Scotland². The national phone line in England and Wales operates Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm²⁵. Citizens Advice also offers a free service for help with gambling problems²⁸, which is relevant where a scam has fed into, or been tangled up with, a gambling problem.

Dealing with debt or money problems after a scam

A scam often leaves more than hurt feelings: money that was meant for bills may be gone, or the victim may have borrowed to pay the fraudster. Citizens Advice can give you the information you need to make the right choices with your money and help you deal with urgent debts, such as mortgage arrears²⁹, and it offers free advice on debt and other money problems³⁰. Demand for that help is high: Citizens Advice gave debt advice to a record 48,482 clients in January 2024, falling to 43,006 in June 2024³¹, and the Welsh Government has noted the organisation reports the number of people it has helped with debt issues is on an upward trend³².

In Scotland, free in-person advice is available at your local Citizens Advice Bureau or on the phone through the Money Talk Team³³. Free face-to-face debt advice is also available through Citizens Advice Bureaux across the UK³.

Where a debt has arisen because of the scam, or where the victim is unhappy with how a lender has behaved, there is a formal complaints route:

1. Talk to the lender or broker first. They need to have the chance to put things right³⁴.
2. Make a formal complaint to them if talking does not resolve it³⁴.
3. After their final response, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service if still unhappy³⁴.

The ombudsman's redress can take several forms: it might include correcting someone's credit record, agreeing a repayment plan, changing the amount owed, or paying compensation for distress or inconvenience³⁵. Behind the scenes, the Money and Pensions Service has launched a toolkit aimed at strengthening collaboration between creditors and debt advisers, to better support customers experiencing vulnerability, mental health challenges or economic abuse³⁶. A scam victim dealing with debt is exactly the kind of customer that work is aimed at.

The page on debt sets out the full range of debt solutions, and taking a refused scam refund to the ombudsman covers the complaint route for the scam loss itself.

Getting help across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Where your relative lives changes which services and reporting routes apply. Fraud reporting is organised nationally: you report fraud in England, Wales or Northern Ireland by contacting Report Fraud, and if you live in Scotland or the fraud happened there, you contact Police Scotland on 101³⁷. The Information Commissioner's Office gives the same split, directing identity theft victims to Report Fraud for England, Wales and Northern Ireland³⁸, and its Welsh-language guidance confirms the same territorial extent³⁹. The Pensions Regulator likewise instructs that fraud or concerns about a potential scam in England, Northern Ireland and Wales are reported to Report Fraud⁴⁰.

Support services have their own footprints:

A parliamentary research briefing on fraud against individuals notes that it applies to England and Wales, and that legal, policing and criminal justice approaches to fraud may differ in the other nations of the UK⁴¹. Some official guidance also states its coverage explicitly: one phone scams guidance page is for England, Scotland and Wales⁴². In Northern Ireland, the nidirect government service publishes its own guidance on protecting yourself from scams, with tips to help you avoid getting scammed on the phone, online, by mail or on your doorstep⁴³, and its scams page carries the striking official figure that a third of scam victims fall for a second scam within 12 months⁴⁴.

The practical upshot for a relative: check which nation the person lives in before pointing them to a helpline, because the name of the service may be the same but the number or the route behind it will differ.

Helping to prevent the next scam: Friends Against Scams

Because repeat victimisation is common, with a third of scam victims falling for a second scam within 12 months⁴⁴, prevention is part of supporting someone, not a separate subject. Friends Against Scams is the national initiative for this. If you want to help or learn, you can sign up online as one of their Scam Marshals¹⁶. Every year, the Friends Against Scams team run a Scamnesty campaign, and they have a Freepost mailbox where you can send any scam mail you have received free of charge²⁷, which gets fraudulent mail into the hands of people who can act on it.

Alongside Friends Against Scams, the FCA runs ScamSmart, a campaign to increase awareness of the tactics used by scammers to help potential victims spot fraud attempts²⁹. The page on the FCA Warning List and ScamSmart explains how to use it before any investment or pension decision. Simple habits help too: official guidance suggests avoiding being added to mailing lists which scammers sometimes get hold of⁴³, and the guide to stopping nuisance calls and scam mail covers call blocking and mail opt-outs.

For someone supporting an older relative, the prevention conversation is easiest when it is practical rather than critical: agreeing to check any unexpected call, text or letter together, registering for mail opt-outs, and knowing the warning signs covered in how to spot a scam. The national Take Five and Stop! Think Fraud campaigns exist for exactly this purpose, and reporting routes such as forwarding suspicious texts give the person something active to do with the next attempt, which is often what rebuilds confidence after a scam.