The UK government is to fund high-tech call-blocking devices to protect people with dementia and vulnerable people from nuisance phone calls, although only around 1,500 people will be given the gadgets under the initial funding.
The £500,000 project will install trueCall devices in the homes of elderly and vulnerable people identified by doctors. The machines block all recorded messages, silent calls and calls from numbers not pre-identified by the homeowner, which the government says will offer particular protection for people with dementia.
About £300,000 of the budget will be spent on the devices themselves, with the remaining funds allocated to management of the service and raising public awareness of scam calls.
Ministers have been pressed by health and consumer campaigners to do more about nuisance calls. One firm alone has been fined £350,000 for making more than 46m automated calls.
Announcing the fund, prime minister Theresa May said: “We want to create a fairer society by cracking down on unscrupulous practices which target the most vulnerable. This new, targeted scheme is the latest step in the government’s fight against nuisance calls, protecting those who are most at risk, including those with dementia.
“We have seen people tricked out of thousands of pounds by scam callers and this government is determined to clamp down on their activities once and for all.”
A trial of the devices last year by the National Trading Standards scams team resulted in 93% of participants feeling safer in their homes, the government said, including one person who had previously paid £150,000 to a scam caller.
Hilda Hayo, chief executive of Dementia UK, said the funding was a step in the right direction. “These calls can not only have a negative financial impact but can also lead to psychological affects such as anxiety, depression and a loss of self-esteem,” she said.
“We frequently receive calls to our national helpline from family members who are concerned that their relative with dementia has fallen prey to rogue traders.”
Further plans are being drawn up to combat the wider problem of nuisance calls, the government said, including a plan to issue fines of up to £1m if companies are found to be in breach of privacy and electronic communications regulations.
