It’s not just criminals and scammers who take advantage of those who are vulnerable (People living with dementia ‘sitting ducks for financial abuse’, 6 November). When our mother was in the early stages of dementia, and before we had power of attorney, she was suddenly unable to pay her bills. When we investigated, we found that it was charities that had repeatedly called her and to whom she’d set up multiple direct debits.
We agreed with her which of them she wanted to keep and cancelled the others. Within a month they were all reactivated. We learned that once her details were in the system, they could be reactivated with a quick call, without providing the bank information again.
In the end, we had to open a new bank account and oversee her card and accounts. These were all mainstream British charities and not scammers.
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