10:41am Monday 31st March 2008
By James Tourgout
AN ELDERLY man was conned out of £230,000 in a shares swindle, say Dorset trading standards.
The man, in his 80s, was tricked by thieves in Germany who called him and persuaded him to part with the cash for shares in a company with a guarantee of making money.
But he lost the money in a so-called boiler room' scam, where victims are tricked into investing in companies which don't exist or are worthless.
The fraud was reported to Dorset Trading Standards when it appealed for people to hand in suspect too good to be true' offers as part of a Scamnesty campaign.
The elderly man from Shaftesbury who fell victim to the boiler room scam was among a number of people who responded.
Others included a man from Weymouth, who bought a product from a foreign catalogue which promised a prize, and has since been deluged with scam letters - receiving 24 in one day alone.
Coun David Crowhurst, Dorset County Council's cabinet member for trading standards, said: "The fact scams of this sort continue to arise means people, including the most needy and vulnerable, do fall for them and lose what can be quite significant sums of money.
"I hope this latest exercise has alerted people to the dangers of cons and highlighted just how severe the consequences can be."
Other cases included a pensioner from Wimborne who lost several hundred pounds replying to scams from fake psychics and horse racing tipsters.
Trading standards officers say if an offer seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Anyone who thinks they may have received a suspect letter is urged to report it to Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.
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