You and Yours

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You and Yours: Romance Fraud, Affordable Holidays, Vulnerable Broadband Customers

31/03/2021

Romance Fraud, Affordable Holidays, Vulnerable Broadband Customers

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Romance Fraud, Affordable Holidays, Vulnerable Broadband Customers

Romance fraud victims. Best seaside destinations. Vulnerable broadband customers.

The rising tide of romance fraud. The seven seaside destinations offering the best value for money this summer. Protecting vulnerable broadband customers from getting cut off.

New figures given to this programme by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau show that romance fraud has risen by more than a third in the past year. 
Nearly 8,000 cases were reported. The money paid to criminals in romance fraud rose too, by almost a quarter - to nearly £77 million in total. We hear from a widow who gave tens of thousands of pounds to a conman who contacted her on a dating site. We also speak to Lisa Mills, Senior Fraud Manager at Victim Support in Sussex, who set up the charity's first support group last year.

Ongoing uncertainty about international travel means more people are likely to be booking UK breaks this summer. The consumer group, Which, has done a survey on the best value UK destinations this year. Out of more than 100 seaside locations, just seven came out as offering full value for money.  Our reporter, Jon Douglas, visits  Bamburgh, a coastal village in Northumberland, which came out top.

The regulator, OFCOM, wants to make sure vulnerable broadband, phone and TV customers can shop around with confidence, switch easily and are treated fairly.
If the pandemic has shown us anything, it's the need for high quality and reliable services to keep people connected.  But, as we're hearing from listeners with elderly and vulnerable family members, upgrading to faster broadband isn't always going smoothly. We hear how mistakes by BT led to one 84-year-old woman getting cut off twice and then falling victim to a scam when fraudsters posed as BT engineers. BT has apologised to the woman and says it's now resolved her issues. We speak to Andrew Ferguson, Editor of Think Broadband about the wider implications of what wrong.

Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Tara Holmes

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You and Yours

Romance Fraud, Affordable Holidays, Vulnerable Broadband Customers

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