The shocking scam that almost cheated one woman out of her HOUSE - what to watch for

An elderly reader nearly lost her home after a cruel con by heartless crooks.

They tricked Dorothy, 78, in to signing over her house to them.

The criminals convinced her she would be actually protecting the property from having to be sold if she went into care.

When she received a letter evicting her from own home, Dorothy, a keen Sunday People reader, sent me a hand-written letter.

The contents were shocking. In it she explained that in October she received a letter from what claimed to be a Government approved “elderly care company”. They warned Dorothy she would have to sell her house in Hull and give all the proceeds to the state if she needs to go into a care home.

The last paragraph offered her a solution, saying this could be avoided by entering a “home preservation plan” with them.

Two days later Dorothy was ­visited by a man claiming to be from the firm that sent the letter.

He apologised for his unannounced visit and explained they had to move quickly as there was only a two-week window to get Dorothy on to their home plan otherwise she would miss out.

He told her the house would be out of reach of the state if she signed a few forms to put the house in trust and pay a monthly fee of £210. He said if she did not she would lose her house if she had to go into care and her family would lose their inheritance.

Dorothy lives on her own and wanted to discuss it with her daughter but the man said there was no time. She signed the papers and started paying £210 a month.

When she received a letter evicting her she contacted me.

Remarkably the letter had a phone number and it was answered when I called it.

I was then told “[Dorothy] sold her house to us in October and we then entered into a tenancy agreement with her. That has now expired and we are not renewing as the ­property is to be sold.”

They could not tell me how much they paid her and swiftly ended the call.

The Land Registry showed Dorothy had signed the house over and agreed a tenancy deal.

The matter has been reported to the police and I’m writing to Land Registry to rectify the title register.

Dorothy nearly lost ­everything but thankfully reached out for some advice.

SOURCE: DailyMirror, Dean Dunham

This seems to be a common theme occurring more and more frequently as the elderly are preyed upon by unscrupulous 'businesses' offering their services. Its so disheartening to hear another story about the plight of the most vulnerable in our society.