Money

Scrapping free TV licence for over-75s could lead to 13% rise in fraud, charity says


THE decision to axe free TV licences for Brits above 75 could lead to a 13 per cent increase in fraud, according to research.

Overall, it means criminals may con the elderly out of an extra £320,000, charity Age UK estimates.

 The decision to scrap free TV licence for the elderly could lead to an increase in fraud

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The decision to scrap free TV licence for the elderly could lead to an increase in fraudCredit: PA:Press Association

The BBC controversially announced in June that it would scrap free licences for pensioners from June next year.

Although, households where at least one person receive pension credit – around 900,000 currently – will not have to pay.

Age UK says the rule change means roughly 3.7 million more households (13.3 per cent of the total) will be made to pay for their licence, making them the target of crooks posing as TV Licensing staff.

The warning comes after there were almost 18,000 reports of people receiving fraudulent TV licence emails in the past year.

How to watch TV legally without paying for a licence

IN the UK, any household watching or recording live television must hold a TV licence.

In recent years, this has been extended to include BBC programmes on iPlayer, whether they are live, catch up or on demand. But does everyone really need a licence? Here’s the lowdown on how to avoid paying – legally.

On demand TV – like catch-up TV and on demand previews – which are available through services like ITV Player , All4 , My5 , BT Vision/BT TV , Virgin Media , Sky Go , Now TV, Apple TV, Chromecast , Roku and Amazon Fire TV

On demand movies – from services like Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video

Recorded films and programmes – either via DVD or Blu-ray, or downloaded from the internet

YouTube – On demand video clips through services like YouTube

The average loss per victim amounted to nearly £8,000, with the total reported loss coming in at over £2.2million.

Scammers are generally contacting people by letter, email or text to say that there’s been a problem with their TV licence fee payment, or that they need to pay up now.

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK director, said: “Fraudsters are always searching for new opportunities to part us from our cash and it seems that the BBC’s decision to make millions of older people buy a TV licence from next summer could be a bonanza for them.

“As though the prospect of losing their free TV licence wasn’t bad enough for our over-75s, this expected upsurge in fraudulent communications adds insult to injury and will be a further kick in the teeth for anyone unfortunate enough to be caught out.”

The charity has campaigned for the free licences for over-75s to remain, and is now calling on elderly and their families to be extra cautious with any communication they receive about their TV licence.

How to protect yourself from fraudsters

ACTION Fraud has the following advice for consumers:

  • Don’t click on links or attachments in suspicious emails and never respond to messages that ask for your personal or financial details.
  • Don’t assume a phone call or email is authentic, even if someone knows your basic details, such as your name or address. Remember, criminals can spoof phone numbers and email addresses to appear as companies you know and trust, such as TV Licensing.
  • Your bank will never call and ask you for your PIN, full banking password, or ask you to transfer money out of your account.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: “We take these issues very seriously and we are doing everything we can to help protect our customers against fraudsters by ensuring they can distinguish between what is a genuine TV Licensing communication and what is a scam.

“Our advice is that if people are unsure about a communication they’ve received, they should contact us directly and we can help.

“We never contact customers out of the blue to ask for bank details, personal information, or to tell them that they may be entitled to a refund.

“For our customers who are over 75 and have a free TV licence, we will not cold call them and will provide the information they need to contact and engage with TVL directly.

“Anyone who is concerned about communications that seem suspicious, you can call on 0300 790 6112 or visit tvl.co.uk/scam.”

TV viewers are being urged to stay alert for a scam email claiming to be from the TV Licencing company that’s tricked victims out of a whopping £830,000.

Meanwhile, the TV licence changes could mean over-75s get billions in unclaimed benefits.

The BBC saw a drop in TV licence sales for the first time in a decade this year as the corporation is battered by competition from Netflix and Amazon.

Theresa May blasts BBC for threatening to take free TV licences away from elderly Brits


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