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London council’s sheltered housing emergency phones targeted by scammers
Vulnerable residents living in sheltered housing in Lambeth have been dealing with repeated calls from scammers trying to extort hundreds of pounds from them on phone lines installed for emergencies, Inside Housing can reveal.
Lambeth Council has confirmed that scammers have targeted care phones in the homes of residents in some of its sheltered housing estates since last year. The local authority has reported the issue to Action Fraud.
The care phones are different to normal phones, with residents unable to call external numbers through them. They can be used to call the emergency services, estate wardens, the council’s careline or other residents, or to answer the intercom system.
Inside Housing has spoken to the residents of the Macintosh Court Estate in Streatham, south London, where many have been receiving these calls, sometimes on a daily basis, for at least 18 months.
There are around 50 tenants being housed on the estate, the majority of whom are over 65, many with disabilities and several have extreme mobility issues that make it hard for them to leave the house.
The calls have become particularly problematic during the coronavirus lockdown period, with many shielding.
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The majority of residents across the block are receiving these calls, with some coming through at 2am in the morning. Often the scammer on the other end of the line, which usually appears to be based in a call centre outside the UK, fraudulently poses as someone from a company, such as Amazon or Visa, and asks for the resident to hand over hundreds of pounds. In one case a resident was asked to pay out as much as £6,000.
In one recording, listened to by Inside Housing, a scammer introduces herself as a member of staff from BT Open Reach and tells a resident that they will have their internet cut off unless they sign up to a special anti-virus package. When the recipient said that she usually gets her grandson to deal with problems on her computer, the caller becomes quite insistent that the resident take action now.
In another four-minute video, seen by Inside Housing, a resident captured the care phone persistently ringing despite it being hung up several times. The resident said this is a common occurrence and that often he is unable to end the ringing and has to leave his house for periods of time to escape the noise.
The residents said they have been left fearful of the calls and afraid to pick up the phones.
They have made repeated complaints to Lambeth Council since the calls started, but said they have had no meaningful response on what action is being taken. One resident, who has sent a number of emails, said: “It’s humiliating and its not dignified to be treated like idiots, if we are saying that we are getting these calls, then that is what is happening.”
Lambeth Council handed over the management of the care phone systems in its sheltered accommodation to Southwark Council in January last year.
In a joint statement, Lambeth and Southwark councils said they are aware of scammers accessing the phones in some of Lambeth’s sheltered housing schemes since last year and have been investigating ever since. They added that they are looking to resolve the issue urgently and have reported the calls to Action Fraud.
The councils also said they are in conversation with BT and engineers are looking at how the system is programmed to check whether there is anything that can be done to stop the calls.
In January 2020, Lambeth Council took the decision to give the £4m contract to Southwark Council, to take on the provision of community alarms and the care phone service for the next five years. As part of the contract, approximately 2,100 residents were transferred to Southwark’s service, which included sheltered tenants and existing private paying tenants.
All sheltered housing tenants must pay £4 every week for the care phone service and the 24-hour personal alarm emergency system.
A joint statement from Jennifer Brathwaite, deputy leader of Lambeth Council (housing and homelessness), and Alice MacDonald, cabinet member for communities, equalities and neighbourhoods at Southwark Council, said: “We must first apologise for the worry and distress this has caused residents, it is disgusting that scammers have targeted elderly and vulnerable people and our main priority is to support them.
“Southwark and Lambeth councils have been aware of this issue in some of Lambeth’s sheltered housing schemes since last year and we have been investigating the matter since then. Residents have been informed, reassured and asked not to share personal information with external callers. It is an ongoing issue which we all urgently wish to resolve.
“The last thing we would ever want to do is have to stop residents from being able to receive calls, which are particularly important for them to avoid isolation, so we want to find a solution which means they can continue to receive calls safely. We will keep them informed about the outcome of our investigation.”
