Working to raise scam awareness

Working together to raise awareness of scams and fraud is the central part of a new collaboration between Barclays, Age UK Cheshire East and Trading Standards.

Macclesfield MP, David Rutley, met with those involved to hear how more local residents can receive advice and support on these issues. 

David met with Catherine Cox from Barclays, Sally Wilson and Emma Kennedy of Age UK Cheshire East and Mark Lodge of Cheshire East Council’s Trading Standards. The meeting followed an earlier discussion with Miss Wilson and Mr Lodge to discuss the crucial work the Age UK Cheshire Scams Project has been doing to protect Macclesfield residents from scammers.

The project continues to grow and has incorporated a monthly session with Barclays at Macclesfield Library. 

Ms Cox set out that as part of Barclay’s commitment to serving the community and to ensure they are still accessible to their customers, they hold three sessions a week within Macclesfield Library.

The sessions are held Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 am till 4:30 pm and the on-site team can help with a range of issues, including money management, power of attorney assistance, digital banking support, transactions that don’t involve cash or cheques and the monthly sessions with Age UK Cheshire East. 

The sessions aim to raise awareness of scams and fraud with customers being provided with written information about how to keep safe and help direct victims of fraud to Age UK Cheshire East’s support services.

During the meeting, it was made clear that there is a need for a wider awareness of this collaboration and the services on offer. The meeting provided the opportunity to explore future events and plans to get more local residents involved. 

Speaking after the meeting, David said “I am always very keen to support any work that raises awareness of the danger of scams for Macclesfield residents. I have worked closely with Age UK Cheshire East for many years, and it is positive to see their services becoming even more popular and local residents gaining the crucial knowledge of how to become more scams aware. I look forward to working alongside Barclays, Age UK Cheshire East and Trading Standards as they progress this important partnership.”