Derby homecare team helps 85-year-old client recover £4k lost to phone scam

Doris, 85, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, became aware that she had been scammed in November 2021, after confiding in her CareGiver, Jodie Hunt, that her bank balance seemed incorrect. 

Upon investigation, Jodie learned that Doris had recently received a call from someone claiming to be from Lloyds Bank. The scammer told Doris that her account had been hacked and convinced her to provide sensitive information to avoid further issues.  

The scammer then proceeded to use Doris’ card details to make small payments before executing larger transactions, including purchasing a new bathroom suite worth over £3,000. 

Jodie, 45, a Right at Home Derby employee who had cared for Doris at home for over a year, promptly took Doris to her local Lloyds branch, where they discussed the issue with the Manager. 

At the time, the bank advised that they were unable to refund Doris’ money but did assist in issuing a new bank card and cancelling any unwanted direct debits and standing orders. 

Fast forward to January 2024, Jodie, now promoted to Community and Digital Marketing Partner at Right at Home, attended a Learning Disability Partnership Board meeting.  

There, she met Lisa Arnold from Derby City Council Trading Standards, who presented on preventing scams using a phone blocker.  

“I shared Doris’ story with Lisa, and she was eager to help,” said Jodie. “I arranged a meeting with Lisa and Doris to review the case and a call was made to Lloyd’s fraud department. Happily, despite the case being over thirteen months old, Lloyds agreed to reopen it.” 

After reviewing the case, Lloyds acknowledged that the proper protocol had not been followed by Doris’ local branch.  

Consequently, Doris received a full refund of her lost money, along with an apology from Lloyds.

Thanks to the new partnership between Jodie and Lisa, Doris now has a phone blocker to stop unwanted calls and is set to receive a Ring doorbell camera through a Derby City Council scheme, which was launched in March to clamp down on crime in the community and support vulnerable people to feel safer. 

Expressing her gratitude, Doris said: "I'm so grateful for everything Jodie and Lisa have done for me. The phone blocker has stopped calls from unknown numbers, and I can now answer the phone with confidence. I've been with Right at Home Derby for many years and all of my CareGivers are lovely. I won't go anywhere else."