 The next item of business is members' business debate on motion 15906, in the name of Morris Corey, on financial scam prevention, and this debate will be concluded without any questions being put. May I ask those who wish to speak in the debate to press the request-to-speak buttons? I call on Morris Corey to open the debate for around seven minutes, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am very grateful to open the members' debate tonight and to talk about the subject that is in hand. I thank you to the members who supported my motion so vehemently, and I am very grateful for that. How many among you have received an email from a foreign royal claiming that you are the only one capable of helping them out of a sticky situation, usually involving thousands of pounds, or an offer to invest in gold that will make you richer than you have dreamed of in a matter of days, or received a call claiming your car insurance is overdue when you haven't even got a car? It is almost sure that all of us have been exposed to financial scams throughout our lives. While some of these scams are more obviously fraudulent, scammers are getting more and more sophisticated in their targeted tax. I particularly had one only the other day, which lasted from Friday until Monday, when the purporting to be BT clearly was phoning from Bombay or somewhere over that part of the world. It took us until Monday to identify that it was fraudulent. When I then said, could you tell me where you're calling from? They said, 81 Hi-Hoban in London. I said, that's fine, I'll just pass that to the police, they'll be around, and all I got was all my God, and the phone went down, and they never heard from them again. Basically, they are really at it. In short, we are all exposed to scams, and there are simple preventative measures to protect the safety of our communities. There are vulnerable members of our communities at risk, and we need to implement preventative measures to protect them from scamming. The basics are simple. Financial scams are costing UK consumers £9 billion a year, and this coupled with the fact that one in eight Scots will fall victim to fraud indicates that a serious public security issue exists. Financial scams manifest themselves in a variety of ways, and are phishing scams, fraudulent calls, bogus callers, rogue traders at the doorstep, and scammers pose as banks, HMRC, pension funds and other reputable institutions. Make note that your bank will not send you anything requesting personal information that is riddled with spelling errors. Scams that are a matter of community safety and £350 million no less were lost last year from customers being tricked into transferring money into fraudulent accounts. With our vulnerable population, it is often the more vulnerable members of our communities who fall victim to these crimes. Fortunately, there are simple ways to prevent anyone from falling victim to scams and to keep our communities safe. Scammers target the socially isolated, those of dementia, pensioners and others, and for some who came from a time when most corresponders could be trusted, rogue traders appear to be legitimate. A phone call from the bank requesting funds seems genuine. There is a strong correlation between social isolation and falling victims to scams, and seven out of ten victims of scams do not tell anyone about it and are thus unable to be helped. There are currently 3.6 million older people living alone in the UK, two million of which are over 75. Of course, not all the people will fall victim to scams, but we must punish those who target their perceived vulnerability. In their 2017 report, Age Scotland shared a case study that I feel illustrates how one financial scammer targeted those who are socially isolated. John is a proud retired professional who is living independently with dementia. His wife died several years ago, and his only daughter lives 30 miles away. One day, a home carer noted that some men were working on the roof of his property. It turns out that they had cold call that after noticing a loose roof tile on John's house. They initially quoted £80, but his kids claimed that the roof needed emergency repairs and that costs had rocketed to £7,500. John was upset and confused and indicated that he just wanted to pay the men to get them away as he felt threatened and embarrassed. The home carer contacted the police and training standards scam prevention team, and the alleged workmen cleared off when they realised that the police were investigating. The training standards scam prevention team visited John to give him advice on avoiding scammers in the future. It happened that John was also being targeted by scammers on the phone, and through large amounts of mail claiming that he had won various prizes. Sadly, John had responded to a number of fraudsters, and over £100,000 of his savings had been withdrawn from his account to pay scammers from all over the world. What happened to John is unfortunate and totally unacceptable, and, gratefully, his local trading standards scam prevention team visited John to ensure that he was not scammed again but that the damage had already been done. Now, it is indeed a sad story, but it has highlighted the ways in which we can deal with and prevent these scams. While Westminster is officially charged with consumer rights, these scammers are a threat to the Scottish community's safety. We have a responsibility in the Scottish parliament to protect our citizens from harm, including financial harm. The Scottish police and the trading standards Scotland are essential in targeting these scammers. Let us work with them and support the local trading standards community and the community safety focus scam prevention work that they undertake. Sadly, trading standards are recognised as being at breaking point in terms of funding and low staff numbers. However, several local authorities have introduced creative prevention initiatives to reduce the risk of residents being scammed, and this creativity is to be commended. Initiatives include blocking nuisance calls, and BT has found that the average British person receives four nuisance calls a week. What can be a nuisance call to some, or a near miss in my case, can be a devastating financial blow to others. Through a nuisance call blocking initiatives, more than 1.5 million calls have been blocked across Scotland, and with increased awareness, only more nuisance calls will be blocked, protecting the public from parting ways with their savings. The Life Changes Trust should also be recognised for funding trading standards in East Renfrewshire, Angus and South Ayrshire. They aim to increase awareness about the simple practical solutions to prevent scams among those who are living with dementia. The project is in its third year and has helped hundreds of families living with dementia to avoid scams and unwanted cold callers. Feedback shows an increase in confidence and ability to maintain an independent life. One recipient of the call blocker said that, months ago, I was distressed by nuisance calls, and so I am so glad that I have the call blocker. Another said that it is amazing how it has worked. We used to receive several calls a day, and now none. The Life Changes Trust simple project has restored the peace of mind to 805 households since 2013, preventing up to an estimated of £2 million in financial loss from being prevented. Trading standards are an integral part of preventing these financial scams. The financial scam prevention can be simple. Beyond call blocking, local police and Aberdeen have used their monthly bulletin to warn residents of rogue traders and bogus callers. The grass-roots effort utilised existing channels in a cost-effective way to prevent scams. The police in Dumbarton organised a walkabout to raise awareness after a local pensioner was scammed out of a four-figure sum, and the commitment of Dumbarton police is to be commended in their efforts to prevent those incidents from continuing. Providing no cold calling stickers on doors and a list of local trusted traders is another simple way to prevent financial scams. Unfortunately, even when someone is completely aware of the risk, they will choose to talk to scammers because it is better than having no one. That is tragic to me, as I hope that, as Parliament will increase our efforts to be for a more connected Scotland, there are befriending networks, community classes, men's sheds and the plethora of third sector programmes to combat social isolation. Let me touch on John's story once more. After suffering his £100,000 loss, the trading standards scam prevention team in his local council helped in a number of ways. John's daughter became his power of attorney for welfare and financial matters. He received a free nuisance calls blocker to stop all unwanted scams and sales calls and no cold calls sticking on his door. His mail was redirected to his power of attorney and a list of trusted traders was supplied to him and his family for future use. Finally, John has joined a local supported art class and feels less isolated and his anxiety levels are drastically reduced. Let us prevent the need for anyone to feel the need to trust foreign princes with their money. In conclusion, Deputy Presiding Officer, preventing financial scams is imperative to community safety. With technology and likewise scams becoming more sophisticated every year, we must protect our citizens. The new economic crime strategic board is working with senior figures from the UK financial sector to tackle these scams and we must not wait. May we support our local councils, police and trading standards to prevent and deal with the financial scams? The issue is causing us not just in pan sterling but in peace of mind of our citizens. Speeches of four minutes please. I call Ruth Maguire to be followed by Jackie Baillie. I begin by thanking Maurice Corry for securing this debate on scam awareness. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. That is a phrase that comes up repeatedly when looking at financial scams and how to prevent them. It is a phrase that came up repeatedly at the tail end of last year at a scam awareness surgery that I organised in my constituency. Experts from Citizens Advice Scotland, Trading Standards, Police Scotland and Better Off North Ayrshire all came along with information and advice on what to look out for and what to do. Excuse me, Ms Maguire, could you pull your microphone towards you a little? A key message to come out from that surgery was that anyone can fall for a scam, but you have a better chance of staying safe from fraudsters if you know what to look out for. That means being wary of unexpected visitors at the door collecting for charity but with no proof of identity or a passing trader who knocks on the door to say that your roof is missing a few slates but whose bill to fix that rises from £80 to several thousand after he notices that extensive repairs are needed or pushy salespeople who ring with great discounts on new windows but put pressure on for quick decisions so that victims do not do proper checks. Then there are those who use sub-refuse and trickery to extract personal details from you or who impersonate your bank or empty your account. There are signs that many of those messages are being taken on board. Just recently a gentleman visited my office to let us know that he'd been approached on the doorstep by someone claiming to be a contractor for a local housing association doing work in the area and offering to install cavity wall insulation on his property just while they were in the area, you understand. He was immediately suspicious and sought our help in checking it out. We made some inquiries that suggested that this was most unlikely. Trading standards were informed and my constituent was able to avoid what was almost certainly a dodgy deal. Spotting and stopping financial scamming requires that all of us to do that be and remain vigilant. It puts pressure on our local authorities, police and charities, such as citizens advice, who need to keep up to date with the latest scams to help people to avoid them and deal with the consequences when far too often we do. The cost of vigilance can be considerable, but the price of failing to be vigilant is heartache, misery and, in some cases, financial ruin. Presiding Officer, I'll just close where I opened if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Jackie Baillie, followed by Richard Lyle. Presiding Officer, can I also join with others in thanking Maurice Corry for bringing this debate to the chamber? His motion rightly points out financial scamming and the effect that it has on both an individual and a community is a serious issue of public safety. Scamming someone out of their hard-earned money is certainly not a new phenomenon, but with modern technology, scamming has become more prevalent and embedded in our day-to-day lives. Anyone can be conned out of money. However, the sad reality is that some in society are more vulnerable than others and they unfortunately become targets. Many of those who are scammed lose thousands of pounds and many never see that money again. In more serious cases, financial scams even mean that people have been forced to sell their home and declare bankruptcy. As Maurice Corry rightly said, when one in eight people across Scotland are victims of scams and there is an estimated 9 billion loss to the UK, it is shocking and I don't think that we discussed this issue enough. Let me paint a picture. Your favourite band has announced that they will be playing near you. You have been waiting years to see them. You have saved up all your money in order to buy the often quite expensively priced ticket. Devastatingly, the tickets sell out in a matter of minutes. Your one final ditch attempt is to head to the venue on the night of the concert to see if there are any last-minute tickets going spare. It is your lucky day. You pay the inflated price of the ticket to the kind individual who happened to have a ticket going spare, only to find that your ticket is fake, the seller has vanished, and when you attempt to get into the venue, you are denied access. That is becoming far too regular an occurrence. In the cases of music concerts and festivals, it is often young people on low incomes who have saved up for that ticket that are left out of pocket. Those fake ticket scams are also happening online. With many second-hand ticket websites, scamming customers out of the price of a ticket, which sometimes never ever arrives. Some scammers will create an almost identical website to the original one with only slight differences, such as the url having .net instead of .com. When the website asks the unsuspecting customer for their bank details to complete an online purchase, indeed, Alasdair Allan. The member rightly points out that websites can, of course, be fake. I am sure that she will agree that one of the growing problems—I have certainly experienced this in my own surgeries—is that paper invoices can be faked on the basis of intercepted emails as well. People can receive invoices that look convincing but have the wrong bank account details on them through the post. Jackie Baillie? Yes, I think that that is absolutely right. In fact, my recollection is that there was a period not that long ago where MSPs indeed received similar fake emails with invoices attached. You cannot just rely on whether it is on a website, whether it comes by email or indeed whether some of this is face-to-face. Those scams that are related to emails and websites would have probably been quite rare two decades ago. They are now far too common place, but scams also take place face-to-face. One of my constituents in Dumbarton was recently conned out £9,000 and left with a damaged roof. Now, it seems that roofs are a particular theme, but, according to my constituent, a man approached his house, offered to carry out seemingly essential work on his roof. All he needed was £9,000 up front to carry this out. Once paid, the scammer was never seen again. Nobody is immune to scams and we must do more to encourage the public to be vigilant in every aspect of their daily lives. Another of my constituents in elderly pension in Dumbarton was conned out of £2,000 after he received a phone call from someone claiming to be his bank, stating that there was a problem with his account. Understandably, he followed the advice of the caller as he thought it was his bank and paid £2,000 to rectify a problem that simply did not exist. I associate myself with the remarks that were made by Maurice Corry about Dumbarton police and, indeed, all of elder division, who are working hard to make residents aware of scams. It is never the fault of those victims that have been scammed. When someone tells you, who is often very plausible, that they can help you, what reason would you have for not believing them? We need to use all the tools at our disposal—awareness, raising, legislation and enforcement—to crack down on the culprits of those financial scams, because they cannot be allowed to get away with it any longer. Richard Lyle, followed by Jeremy Balfour. I thank Maurice Corry for bringing this important issue to debate today in the member's debate. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on financial scam prevention. I want to begin my contribution by stating clearly that I believe that we are facing a great problem in regard to financial scamming. Many of our citizens and senior citizens are vulnerable to dangers. We need to take appropriate measures to minimise the effects that it has on the lives of people and ensure that we are making progress to put an end to financial scamming. Financial scamming is something that could happen to anyone. We live in a world of technology and it makes it easier for scammers to take advantage of people. It is for this reason that it is vital for us to continue to push agendas and proposals that will make it harder for the scammers to reach their goal. As convener of the cross-party group in dementia, I had the opportunity to learn about the financial scam. Paul Holland is a member of the prevention team for East Wrenfrewshire Council, a member of the cross-party group in dementia. He is an advocate for those who are affected by financial scam. According to him, as Maurice Corry has already said, it is estimated that there are £9 billion lost to scams in the UK each year. That statistic speaks volume to the problem that we are facing. We need to continue to support local organisations that are doing indispensable work to help people who are harmed by financial scam. As noted, anyone can be a victim to financial scam, but the population of older adults are the people who are often the targets, including those with dementia. We want to care and provide for those people. We want to continue to give them the tools to live independently and free from the worry that might affect from a financial scam. The Financial Conduct Authority is an organisation that helps with the harms of financial scam. They have put a great emphasis on that all unexpected calls, emails and text messages should be treated with caution. The people behind those scams are often people who know basic information about their target. Last week, I sent an email to tell me that my parliamentary email had $1 million. I did not reply. The evolution of this ret calls for different answers to fight against financial scams. In fact, the increase in the number of financial scams has proliferated in parallel with the growth of IT information technology. Email and hacking scams have replaced telephone and postal scams. This new threat affects all age groups from the youngest to the oldest population. Therefore, we should establish techniques of prevention that fit the needs of our different profiles of our population. Moreover, we have to continue to take steps to fight against professional scammers, as the Justice Committee underlines that the first step to be taken is to support those who have been victims of scams through guidance. For the younger generation, this prevention can be enhanced through education. It is imperative for the younger generation to continue to develop computer skills at school. This type of education can help to prevent exposures to scams on the internet. Teaching young people to recognise internet scams appears to be an essential solution to avoid scams. As for the older adults, we should consider training them on digital tools to prevent financial scams. Maybe I should take that up also. The development of new technologies occupying an increasing important place in our lives constitutes a real digital revolution. However, because of the derivatives that we are able to generate, we should be able to understand the importance of the efficiency of prevention. To conclude, I want to underline that protection from abuse of financial scams is a fundamental right that older adults have. Elder scams are human rights violations and infringement of article 25 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. I do not know if I can say that nowadays. It recognises and respects the rights of older people to lead lives of dignity and independence, to freely participate in their social and cultural life. The fight against financial scams will not be solved in a single day, but a long work of prevention against the rigs seems more necessary than ever. I thank Maurice Corry again for bringing this really important issue to the chamber today. Jeremy Balford, followed by Kenneth Gibson. Age UK has described fraud as a challenge that we face as a whole society and has been identified as one of the most numerous types of crime. Fraud is a crime in which some kind of deception is used for personal gain and can be a devastating effect on a person's life. Not only can fraud lead people penniless, it can have serious long-term lasting consequences on their health and wellbeing. Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated and can scam people by posting online or in person. It is important that we raise awareness of those schemes to prevent more people's lives being affected by those who make their job to con people out of the hard-earned money and life savings. Although fraud is a crime that affects people of all ages, older people are often more at risk because of their circumstances. As we have already heard, the isolation, the lonely, the mental decline and they are more likely to respond to scams. Indeed, two-fifths of older people in Scotland are mounting to 400,000 people who believe that they have been targeted by a scam in the past 12 months. They are also more likely to be vulnerable to particular types of fraud, such as doorstep phone scams and pension scams. For example, again, Age UK reports on scamming noted that the average age of victims of mass-marketing post a fraud is 75+. That includes lottery and prize scams and scams that often seem so legitimate that people take them forward. That is why it is important that all people, but particularly older people, are educated on the ways to determine scams of all kinds. There are charities and organisations that can provide helpful information and advice, such as Friends Against Scams. Friends Against Scams is a national trading standard scams team that aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of fraud, by empowering individuals and communities to take a stand against it. Here in Edinburgh, the City Council has partnered with organisations and with staff undertaking Friends' pledges as a method to spread awareness of scamming in the hope of having a domino effect across the city. Other charities such as Age Scotland and Think Jessica have help lines available for anyone affected by a scam, while it is encouraging to report a scam to the police in order to help their fraud team to tackle the problem. Age Scotland is a charity based here in Edinburgh that provides community-based computer training for those over 50 who can encourage new and non-confident users to learn basic computer skills and to work out what is a scam and what is not. There is help out there, but we need to make sure that people know about it. I think that we need to encourage people to speak with their loved ones, friends and neighbours about the different types of scams that are out there and that they perhaps have fallen into the trap of going down. I would also like finally to take this opportunity to ask the Scottish Government to undertake more detailed research to understand the extent and impact of fraudulent schemes and to do what they can to make sure that people are aware of what is going on. Without public safety campaigns, without people talking about it, more and more people will be affected by it. I conclude by thanking my colleague for bringing forward his members' debate tonight. It is a vital subject that we should not be scared to talk about but we should be shouting from the rooftops. Do not do it. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I congratulate Maurice Corry for securing debating time on an important issue, which has concerned me for many years. I previously ran an extensive information campaign in my constituency on this very topic. It is estimated that over quarter of a million people in Scotland fall victim to scams each year, losing hundreds if not thousands of pounds. In 2017, the average loss for scam victims aged 75 to 79 was £4,500,000. Scams annually cost the Scottish economy between £500 million and £1 billion. In the Office for National Statistics found that people are more likely to fall victim to fraud or cyber offenses than any other crime. Sadly, older people are overrepresented as victims, including pension, telephone and doorstep scams, being targeted due to perceived vulnerability. The average victim is 75. Older people living alone are more likely to be scammed than married people, and half of all people aged 75 plus live alone. Tragically, victims are often lonely, and the criminal is the only friend that they have. Scammers may also intimidate and bully victims into parting with savings. The stress and pain of victimisation can seriously impact lives and cause depression, isolation from family and friends, and a serious deterioration of physical and mental health. People defrodded in their homes are two and a half times more likely to die are going to residential care within a year. Victims may go through many reactions and emotions, including anger, flashbacks, nightmares, fear of leaving a house, confusion and anxiety. The entire experience can be extremely traumatic and enduring. Older people are also more likely to suffer repeat scams. That could be because they are overtrusting, social isolated or suffering from dementia. Chronic victims often refuse to believe that they are being scammed and spend huge amounts of time reading, sorting and replying to scam letters. Even when someone recognises they are being scammed, they may be too embarrassed to seek help or talk about it. It is believed that only 5 per cent of scams are reported, and 7 out of 10 victims do not tell anyone, including friends and family. However, it is important to emphasise that victims of scamming need not feel embarrassed or ashamed. People from all walks of life and all ages can be scammed. There are groups and services available who not only try to stop future scamming activities but provide support to victims. One important group is Think Jessica, a charity committed to protecting elderly and vulnerable people from fraud. Victims support Scotland and Citizens Advice Scotland also deliver vital support and offer guidance on where to turn. While Victims support Scotland does not offer counselling, they can help people to understand and cope with their feelings. Victims often find easier to speak with someone impartial than family and friends. They listen, give people time to talk and begin to understand the impact a scam has had on them, as well as to help to identify and agree on further support that may be required. Behind each scam lies heartbreaking stories of people and their families being robbed of their entire life savings, as Maurice Corry outlined with John. The Government's national nuisance calls action plan contains a range of measures to raise awareness and is welcome in making it easier for people to protect themselves. However, the power to regulate in this area still lies with the UK Government, which I am delighted to say finally agreed to implement Patricia Gibson MP's nuisance calls director-level responsibility bill after an unnecessary three-year delay. When the bill was introduced on 13 September 2015, only companies could be fined, meaning that company directors simply closed down the company upon which the fine had been levied and reopened under a different company name, whilst retaining the same staff and premises trading as before. The bill seeks to tackle a scourge of nuisance calls by legislating for company directors to be fined up to half a million pound each if they are found to have been breached by the privacy and electronic communications regulations. Inacted, the bill came into effect as of 17 December last year, the UK Government having implemented Mrs Gibson's bill in full. Imposing fines on named company directors will have a huge impact on diminishing this scourge. There is still a much important work to be done when raising awareness and protecting people from all sorts of other scams and fraud. I look forward to seeing fuller developments and again congratulate Maurice Corry on bringing forward this debate. The last of the open debate contributions is from Gail Ross. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would also like to thank Maurice Corry for bringing this important matter to chamber for debate. As across my constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, people are also being defrodded. In fact, just last week, a family contacted me for help. They have been called out of four figures some in an elaborate and very organised way that I will go into in more detail later on. I am sure that many of us here today have helped a lot of constituents who have been victims of financial scams. Indeed, studies show that every 15 seconds someone in the UK loses money to a scammer. Younger people often think that they are less likely to be hit by those scams but, in fact, that is not the case. Indeed, many scammers will develop particular techniques that are aimed more at young people. As we have heard from Jackie Bailey, things such as ticketing scams as well as online and subscription traps. There are no parts of Scottish society that are immune to financial scams and we must work together to ensure that everyone is kept safe. However, we should highlight how important it is that those scams are reported and that people know where to get help if they need it. We should be encouraging Governments of all levels and local authorities to support organisations to inform and educate the public in keeping themselves safe. Citizens Advice Scotland, as has also been mentioned, has published a lot of useful information and support for people to access to get help if they have been scammed and tips for how to prevent someone falling victim to one. I encourage all members, not just those here today in the chamber, to have a look at the information online and share it with their constituents. They also note the tools that some scammers use to entice their victims into parting with their money. Scammers will often create a feeling of obligation as they are aware that most people will tend to obey requests from authority figures. They also create a sense of personal consequence as most people will tend to avoid anything that would result in some sort of punishment. They appeal to motions and try to create a sense of urgency. As you will see from the example that I am about to tell you, a young family in my constituency was recently contacted by who they believed and who they were told was HMRC, demanding thousands of pounds in unpaid tax. The scammers inform my constituent that they would be immediately arrested and taken to court if they did not pay this money straight away. My constituent lives in a particularly remote location, with her nearest bank being a two and a half hour round trip. The scammers insisted that the money must be paid right away, so they allowed them to make a payment in an alternative method. It was something that was completely new to me by purchasing vouchers at the local shop and giving details of the vouchers to the scammers. Already we can see that the scammers have used the four classic tools by pressuring people in to giving them money, consequence, obligation, urgency and emotion. The local shop only had a proportion of the vouchers that my constituent was told to purchase, so it decided to travel to a neighbouring village to purchase more to send. Luckily, whilst on route, it met a family member who they explained the situation to and the family member and realised that it was not a legitimate way to collect the money and that it was prevented from any more money being lost. That goes to show that being a victim of a financial scam can happen to any one of us, and while some in society are certainly more vulnerable than others, we need to get the message out to everyone that organised criminals can and will target anyone regardless of their age or health. In conclusion, I thank Citizens Advice Scotland and the many other organisations that support and help people who have fallen victim to a financial scam. I encourage anyone and everyone to speak up and report scams when they come across them. I call Jamie Hepburn to respond to the debate for around seven minutes, please, minister. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Can I join with others and begin, as others have, in thanking Maurice Corry for bringing tonight's debate forward? I believe that this is a very important debate for us to have. We have a clear responsibility to all of our citizens, particularly those who are most vulnerable to protect them from becoming victims of scamming behaviour. I say that we have a responsibility, and I do believe particularly to our most vulnerable citizens. Of course, as Dick Lyle and Gail Ross said a few moments ago, it is a reminder that any person can be impacted by scamming behaviour, any one of us, as Gail Ross said. In that regard, it is important that we have this debate this evening. The many examples that have been mentioned this evening demonstrate the distress and harm that are caused by scams. We will all be aware of situations that some of the people that we each represent have been impacted by. Indeed, many have been laid out this evening. Kenny Gibson and Jeremy Walfour were quite right to remark that this is an issue that goes beyond the immediate financial loss, which is the primary thing that we think of when we talk, discuss and debate those matters. However, of course, there is that substantial long-term impact on a person's wellbeing, which we should remember. On the prevalence of this as a problem, we are well aware that Jeremy Walfour asked about Scottish Government research. I can say to him and other members in the chamber that, in March last year, we commissioned ECOS to undertake a review of existing research and evidence on the financial cost of scams to the Scottish economy. That was to try to identify and measure preventive strategies that are designed to reduce their impact. The research that he was suggesting has been undertaken. If he or any member would like more information, we are very happy to provide that information if they contact me. The Scottish Government is currently working with a range of partners to embed cyber resilience in our education and lifelong learning systems at all levels, so that all citizens have a fundamental awareness of cyber risk and how they can take basic but important steps to reduce that risk. Of course, we know that that is not and has been eloquently set out by a range of members this evening. That is not just an issue that happens online. That is why we must undertake other activities. The Scottish Government has provided Craneshopper Scotland with funding last year to support and empower people to speak up where they need to help to prevent and solve crime to make communities safer and reduce the likelihood of criminal behaviour. In particular, they, as an organisation, are leading on the national doorstep crime campaign, which launches next month. That will work in partnership with Police Scotland, Neighborhood Watch Scotland and Trading Standards, with a particular focus on raising awareness for the over-60s on the risk of bogus collars and rogue traders. We often think of that as an issue that affects older people in particular, but I thought that Jackie Baillie and Gail Ross were quite right to highlight that that is an issue that impacts young people as well. Through partnership working, we will continue to try and increase consumer awareness of Scams, Citizens Advice Scotland on Scams Awareness Month and undertake additional Scams campaigning in June each year. We are working with local trading standards teams throughout the country and the majority of Citizens Advice Bureau to help to ensure that there is local activity. In 2018, Citizens Advice Scotland, working with Young Scot, again reminding us that that is an issue that impacts young people, working with Police Scotland and many local authorities. That was a range of activity. It gained a huge amount of social media and local and national newspaper coverage in the delivery of what was a very successful campaign. We need to do more than education and awareness raising as important as it is. It is also important to recognise how businesses can play a role as well. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work was able last year to help to support the Royal Bank of Scotland launch the little book of Cyber Scams Scotland publication and their Cyber Fraud Prevention Initiative, which was designed to try to ensure that vulnerable customers were better protected. The new system involving Police Scotland, the banking sector and trading standards was launched in March of last year and prevented over £5 million of fraud in 2018 and led to a number of arrests being made. Most of the potential victims were over the age of 65 with a range of different scamming type behaviour. The protocol kicks in when bank staff suspect that a customer may be about to fall victim to a scam, but often when they are asked to withdraw an unusually large sum of money in the bank then alerts Police and officers attend the branch with a guaranteed priority response. That is the type of initiative that I commend and many other businesses could learn from. Just as it is not only a matter for education and awareness, nor should we just look to business to take action. So, too, it must we as an administration, but also collectively as parliamentarians. Maurice Corry It is very important. I think that we sometimes miss the point about the importance of trading standards officers. I have seen in my area a great effectiveness being put on that. There are few in far between. Would you agree with me, minister, that we would be better to get more financed into that particular focus sector, because they are effective and gain a lot of intelligence on the ground. I have personally seen them in operation and have been very effective in Heronsbury and Lowman and particularly in the west Scotland region. Jamie Hepburn I greatly value the work of trading standards officers. One of the things that I have been able to do is work with them. They are very close in a range of activity that we have undertaken as an administration. For example, the initiative that we have undertaken to ensure that people are not being ripped off with high delivery chargers, for example, trading standards have an important role to play. I have had the pleasure to meet with trading standards officers representatives recently to discuss more work that can be done together. I will always be very willing to meet them to discuss those matters. I absolutely recognise the important role that they play. Indeed, that is why we provided funding to Trading Standards Scotland of £125,000 in 2017 for the purchase and roll-out of call-blocking devices. Maurice Corry mentioned the effectiveness of that. It led to the blocking of 150,000 calls and an estimated of 171 scams being prevented, with savings made of nearly £605,000. As a Government, we will work with others such as trading standards officers. I was also going to commend them, and I still will because I have some time to do so. Kenny Gibson and Ruth Maguire for the activity that they have undertaken locally emphasising the role that not only will we play as a Government, but each of us individually can do as individual parliamentarians, which I think is a way of reminding us that that is a shared agenda. We do collectively take very seriously the concern around scams and let us resolve together to continue to undertake activity, to reduce this activity, to protect all other citizens. That concludes the debate, and this meeting is closed.