> I heard you talking on Radio Fivelive this lunch-time, and your
> Mum's story rang a huge bell for me. My Nan is in her eighties, and has
> been replying to scam letters for some time. The problem only came to
> light when she moved down from the Wirral to be closer to us (my parents,
> and my family) last July. Her and my Grandad's health is in decline, and
> now that we were visiting daily to help with meals and shopping, we began
> to notice the arrival of scam letters and the stacks of letters needing
> stamps for posting.
>
> We have discussed with her the fact that they are scams, and have shown
> her leaflets from Trading Standards etc, and emphasised that these people
> are criminals. Still she replies, making herself even more tired and ill
> by staying up late into the night hand-writing replies to these people who
> she thinks have her best interests at heart. She sends cash in the post -
> we calculated one month she had sent over £700. We try to intercept the
> letters, and don't post the ones she gives to us, returning the money to
> her. We have all tried to reason with her, but she seems unable to see
> the truth. She feels that we are all against her, and in her eyes she is
> only trying to claim her winnings to help the family. It is
> heart-breaking that her health continues to decline, and she is alienating
> all members of her immediate family, and increasingly appears obsessed by
> these letters. The family spend increasing amounts of time going around
> in circles discussing how best to stop the l!
> etters, but there is no answer, no solution to this problem. I feel that
> Nan has some form of dementia as she seems unable to exercise judgement
> about these letters. She has saved all her life, and has always been
> careful with money. She won't accept help with her and Grandad's
> day-to-day support because she thinks other people are worse off, and she
> begrudges money spent on cleaner's, hairdressers etc, yet will willingly
> send £100's to scammers. The helpless feeling that she is acting in a way
> that is so far out of character is horrendous. We, her family, have no
> interest in her money in terms of inheritance. We'd rather she used her
> savings to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle now. We hate to see her eaten up
> by 'the letters' which dominate every day of her life.
>
> If you know of any way in which we can stop the letters at source, or
> prevent them being delivered, please please let me know.
>
> While relieved to hear that other people understand what we are going
> through, the fact that there doesn't seem to be an answer is extremely
> frustrating.
>
> Thanks for listening,
>
> Emma





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