A Dudley Council team has saved £9 million from falling into the hands of financial criminals since its launch.

The scams unit, which is part of Dudley trading standards, has been operational since the end of 2017. It aims to prevent Dudley residents from being targeted and conned out of cash by scammers.

In the last 12 months alone, the team has prevented £1million from being stolen, with £9 million saved in total. People targeted are often older, lonely and vulnerable and criminals know they are more likely to be susceptible to financial scams.

To put a stop to this kind of activity the team has been working with residents to investigate claims of potential scams and raise awareness of the warning signs.

The team also offer free call blockers, which can be temporarily installed in people’s homes to help put a stop to cold calling. The team’s savings are estimated using the scams intervention calculator, provided by the National Trading Standards scams team. Councillor Ian Bevan, cabinet member for public health, said:

"The work of our scams team is vital in our efforts to crackdown on financial criminals who prey on innocent individuals for their own illicit gain.

"The amount of money the team has been able to save from being scammed is staggering. If they hadn’t acted, that’s millions of pounds taken from people in this borough through no fault of their own." The team will continue to tackle financial crime and protect Dudley residents.

Anyone concerned they or someone they know may have fallen victim to scams can contact the scams unit on 01384 818871 or via the Dudley Trading Standards website.