A vulnerable woman was tricked out of around £10,000 in fictious prize draws and numerous charity donations in one of the ‘worst situations seen in Bromley’, say Trading Standards.

The scam left the elderly woman with only £200 and struggling to pay her rent after it was discovered she was paying more than £400 a month in charitable donations, including six direct debits set up with one charity.

Trading Standards are investigating the scam and will challenge the organisations involved for targeting a 'vulnerable older woman'.

The case came to light in December last year when the woman rang a distant relative and told him she was struggling to pay her rent.

The relative then contacted social services after he became concerned about her finances and general well-being.

Social workers recognised the signs of someone being scammed or suffering financial abuse including large amounts of mail, boxes of creams and perfumes, cheap jewellery and tins of biscuits, and contacted Trading Standards.

When officers visited the house they found the lounge, bedroom and hallway were overrun with scam mail and goods that had been purchased in order to obtain the winnings of fictitious prize draws.

Councillor Kate Lymer, Executive Councillor for Public Protection and Safety said: “This is a tragic story and I am mostly concerned at the amount of payments she was making each month to charities.

“I am pleased this has stopped but we now need to challenge those organisations as to why they targeted a vulnerable older woman.

“Officers from Trading Standards and Adult Social Services will now concentrate on supporting her, in an effort to prevent her from becoming a victim again.

“They will approach local organisations who may be able to provide some ongoing support e.g. Age UK, and local voluntary groups.”

More than 250 personal care products had been purchased at overinflated prices by her since January last year.

They included “luxury” shower gels, foot care, food supplements, perfumes, soaps, joint creams, anti-ageing products and beauty serums.

Some products were purchased more than 10 times each and all were unopened and unused.

She also purchased many other multiple items for the home, jams, 26 tins of biscuits, blankets, scarves, clocks, soft toys, handbags, ornaments and 35 pouches containing cheap jewellery.

The case was described as being ‘one of the worst seen in Bromley’.

Cllr Lymer added: “We will not be releasing further details at this time but we do want to use this example to highlight the dangers and to encourage us all to talk about this with those people who are known personally to us who may be targeted in this way.”

It is estimated that 3.2 million people fall victim to scams each year losing £3.5billion to these criminals with less than five per cent of people reporting being scammed.

Further information about Trading Standards and rogue traders is available on the Bromley Council website.

Residents are also advised they can contact Bromley’s trading standards team by e-mail at trading.standards@bromley.gov.uk , especially if it is known that someone may be a victim of a scam.

For a victim of a doorstep crime who needs immediate assistance, the trading standards rapid response contact is 07903 852090.