All that glitters is not gold

36 million people in the United Kingdom have been targeted by scammers so far in 2021! (Citizens Advice, June 2021)

Who are Citizens Advice?

Citizens Advice is a network of independent charities that offers free confidential advice online, over the phone and in person. They share independent advice to empower people with knowledge and confidence to face up to their problems and resolve difficulties on a variety of subjects to include consumer rights.

In a recent study by the Citizens Advice more than two thirds of adults have been targeted by a scammer since January 2021.

So far in 2021 73% of over 55-year-olds have been contacted by a scammer compared to 57% in people under the age of 34. 9% of the under 34-year-olds had fallen victim to a scam compared to 2% of the over 55s. From research undertaken by the Citizen Advice in 2021 those 34 and under are almost 5 times more likely to fall victim to a scam.

61% of younger people were most likely to be targeted by text or messaging service, while 73% of those over 55 were most likely to be targeted over the phone.

The different tactics used by scammers include:

An elderly man who sent £240,000 to an account he thought belonged to his bank.
A young woman lost £2,000 to a fake cryptocurrency company after receiving a message from a friend's hacked social media account.
A woman who lost £750 she had sent to a bogus dog breeder

The Citizens Advice Consumer Service confirms reports of scams are on the increase. During the first five months of 2021 the number of scams reported have more than doubled compared to the same period in 2020.

Scam emails are up by 667%, and scams via telephone calls have increased 60%.

Citizen Advice puts people first and are here to help. For help contact your local Citizens Advice.

Don't feel embarrassed about reporting a scam – scammers are clever, scams can happen to anyone.

Glossary

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that exists electronically.

Independent

Independent means that something or someone is not influenced or controlled by others.

Scammer

A scammer is a person that makes money using illegal methods.

Victim –

A victim is a person that has been harmed physically, financially or emotionally.

Anglesey Herald

Tragedy – so close to home

4^th November 1859

A ship was wrecked off Porth Alerth, north-east Anglesey last Tuesday evening / Wednesday morning, 25-26 October.

The name of the ship was the Royal Charter, belonging to the Liverpool and Australian Steamship Navigation company and launched in 1855. The ship had been built on Deeside.

It was a steam ship and held 600 passengers and cargo. It was a fast ship that could travel from Australia to Liverpool in less than 60 days.

The ship had travelled from Melbourne, Australia with about 500 people on board. Many had been mining for gold in Australia and the ship was also carrying a cargo of gold.

Stormy night

It was an extremely stormy night, with very strong winds reaching about force 12 on the Beaufort Scale. Force 8 on the scale indicates a gale but force 12 denotes a hurricane and so you can imagine how difficult the circumstances were.

At eleven o'clock, the ship anchored off the north–east coast of Anglesey but the wind was so strong that the chains broke and the ship was driven towards the rocks near Porth Alerth, near Moelfre. The ship broke in two as it was rammed against the rocks by strong winds of about 100 miles per hour.

More than 450 people are believed to have been killed, many as they were dashed against the rocks. In addition, some drowned as they tried to swim ashore because they had loaded their pockets with gold and wore heavy belts containing gold before leaving the ship.

It is believed that around 133 ships sunk around the coast of the United Kingdom on the night of 26 November 1859.

Slideshow

All that glitters is not gold – interesting facts

This island is called Ilha de Queimada but the popular name for it is the Island of Snakes. It lies off the coast of Brazil, about 90 miles from Sao Paulo

This is the slow loris which looks like a lovely animal, with big eyes. But this is a poisonous mammal with poison near its elbows and when it senses danger, the poison goes from its elbows to its mouth and mixes with its saliva. Its bite is poisonouss and the poison can kill.

Do you like cheese? Well, what about this cheese from Italy. This cheese is called Casu morzu and looks delicious but it's not as tasty as it looks. It's very special because it's full of live maggots – yes, live maggots! – and when you eat the cheese, some of them jump, landing on your face or in your eyes! They can jump about 10 centimetres!

These eggs are called century eggs. They're not a hundred years old but have been kept in a special saline solution, wrapped and preserved for a few months until the inside changes colour and texture. The yellow turns dark green and becomes creamy. The egg white becomes dark brown and is very similar to jelly. What do you think of these eggs? Would you like to taste them?

Video

Interactive