My Mother in law has received a text saying she needs to apply for the winter fuel payment and she needs to apply by tomorrow or she will miss out on this years.
Due to us been in a show this afternoon she has spent the last 3 hrs panicking shes 90 yrs old Id like to meet these sad shits


Why the **** cant we just kill these ******* surely we have the capability to track them down ! any UK bank that allow's payments to go in to accounts for scammers given the choice pay back the money scammed or be closed down and the CEO life sentence in Guantanamo Bay Foreign banks not allowed to trade with UK /US and European Banks unless they sign up to a charter to say they will follow the rules of pay back scammed money within 5 working days or they are closed down all there assets taken and given to charity

Oh and we have just got home to her in tears as she thinks she wont get the payment then shes upset that she thinks shes stupid for not realising it was a scam.
I just want to rip the heart out of these shits and there families

I know what you and your mother in law will have been through. They are **** preying on the vulnerable. I must get 5 scam calls a week on my mobile but never answer them, as anyone creditable will leave you a message. They appear to be able to use mobile numbers of innocent people-I have from a curiosity occasionally called scammers back to get someone innocent on the other end .

warksclaret wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 14, 2025 6:29 pm

I have from a curiosity occasionally called scammers back to get someone innocent on the other end .

Be careful doing that as there's always the chance that's what they want you to do - and then charge you a lot of money to be connected to their masked premium number

Over the last few weeks I’ve had calls from mobile numbers about “my blockchain account being suspended”

I’ve never had a blockchain account and have played along with them for a while before receiving a mouthful of abuse and insults, I know it’s pointless but the only reason I do it is to delay them calling another victim

90 years old and having to deal with this. It’s scandalous.

It is really awful how these nasty people target vulnerable seniors and newcomers, I’m 78 but savvy enough to know when I see a suspect text, email or phone call. We’ve all had scam text, emails and phone calls to deal with from time to time and they’re getting more frequent and sophisticated. The question I have is does DWP have a preferred method of client contact? Here in Canada if CRA (Canada Revenue Agency aka ‘the taxman’) need to contact you they’ll do it my snail mail only. They will NEVER use text or email, I don’t believe they ever use phone unless it’s prearranged using a secure code or something like that.

exilecanada wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 14, 2025 8:09 pm

It is really awful how these nasty people target vulnerable seniors and newcomers, I’m 78 but savvy enough to know when I see a suspect text, email or phone call. We’ve all had scam text, emails and phone calls to deal with from time to time and they’re getting more frequent and sophisticated. The question I have is does DWP have a preferred method of client contact? Here in Canada if CRA (Canada Revenue Agency aka ‘the taxman’) need to contact you they’ll do it my snail mail only. They will NEVER use text or email, I don’t believe they ever use phone unless it’s prearranged using a secure code or something like that.

Phone, then post. Some working-age benefits use text messaging.

I delete everything , hey my wife is filling for devoice as I fail to answer her

Enola Gay wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 14, 2025 8:35 pm

Phone, then post. Some working-age benefits use text messaging.

So if phone is the primary contact method I can see why it would be easy to mislead the client. The number or name you see on caller display can easily be faked with today's technology. Primary contact method needs to be reviewed.

Horrible, horrible thing to happen.
Hope she's feeling a little better about it all now.

I had this text so reported as junk. About 30 minutes later I had a reply that called ma a weirdo!!

There should be steeper penalties for mistreating the elderly
Wether it’s a scammer or a politician

put simply they are utter ****.
sadly where these vultures spy an opportunity, they will milk it for all its worth.
Vile creatures, no social responsibility, no codes of decency.
makes me think very bad thoughts towards these vermin.

1HappyClaret wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 14, 2025 9:10 pm

I had this text so reported as junk. About 30 minutes later I had a reply that called ma a weirdo!!

What did pa think of that?

My 92 year old mother in law got a call a few months ago from someone pretending to be her bank. Wanted to clarify some details. They actually already had her card number. They were trying to transfer money out of her account. Of course the final step they told her was to tell them a code that was about to arrive. She duly obliged. $800 went missing. We spotted it a few days later when checking her account, after she said the “bank” had called. We reported the theft to the bank. They said they couldn’t refund the money because an authorisation code had been used. Then 2 weeks later, because she’d forgotten all our instructions. Including that the bank will never call you.. ever. She did the same thing again. Another $500, again the bank said no, same reason. Even though they understood that a frail 92 year old wouldn’t be transferring these amounts to a gambling website.
No longer with that bank.

Info on gov.uk website:
Nine million pensioners to receive Winter Fuel Payments this winter as all pensioners in England and Wales with an income of, or below, £35,000 a year will benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment. 
No pensioner will need to take any action as they will automatically receive the payment this winter, and for those with incomes above the threshold it will be automatically recovered via HMRC.