MORE than £2.5million has been saved from the hands of scammers in the past 12 months thanks to Dudley Council’s scams team.

The unit aims to prevent people being targeted and conned out of cash by financial criminals and since its launch at the end of 2017 it has saved £8million 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 scams unit has been working with residents to investigate claims of potential scams and raise awareness of the warning signs.

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader elect for Dudley Council, said: "The work of our scams team has helped save vulnerable residents more than £2.5million in the last year alone.

"As we move into the new municipal year, I can assure people that fighting financial crime remains a top priority for the council and I would urge anyone who is concerned they may have been targeted by a scammer to get in touch with us."

The team’s savings are estimated using the scams intervention calculator, provided by the National Trading Standards scams team.

Anyone concerned they or someone they know may have fallen victim to scams can contact the scams unit on 01384 818871 or via trading.standards@dudley.gov.uk