Grant to help business stamp out scammers

HOME Instead owner Mick Sheehan (left) with deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Jim Battle

A SADDLEWORTH business is taking on the scammers thanks to a £1,000 grant from the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner.

Home Instead Senior Care, based in Uppermill, was awarded the money from the commissioner's Neighbourhood Fund to deliver 10 fraud awareness workshops across the community over the next 12 months.

The scam-busting workshops will offer a Senior Fraud Protection Kit, which contains information on the most common scams as well as tools to help assess the risk of an elderly loved one, plus a check-list to help people to lower their risk of being targeted.

The first workshop will be held at Home Instead Office, High Street, Uppermill, on July 28 at 1pm.

Jim Battle, deputy police and crime commissioner, presented the cheque and said: "We were very pleased to have approved this grant as it addresses an area where there is growing concern.

"The level of fraud is increasing, with last month's national crime figures showing incidents of cyber fraud had exceeded burglaries.

"We learn how to shut windows and doors, we now need the same in terms of phones and computers."

Mick Sheehan, owner of Home Instead Senior Care in Oldham, said: "With modern mass marketing scams using the post and internet, organised criminal gangs can reach many more people, and because they are very sophisticated in their approach many individuals of all ages are taken in.

"We have delivered workshops in the past but the new funding means we will be able to reach a larger number of people in the local area."