Scams Q&A - how to avoid being caught out

Me too, Judthepud2. My DH and I never answer 'withheld number' calls. It can be a nuisance, though, to keep to this rigidly as we have missed appointment confirmation calls from the hospital more than once. So now we tend to answer them if either of us has an upcoming appointment.
We also tend never to answer calls from unknown numbers on our mobiles. Instead we google the number afterwards to find out who it is and the google result is invariably that they are nuisance calls. How irritating life has become with all this technology! We wouldn't be without it though

Anyone who cold calls me gets short shrift! I don't answer calls that register 'withheld number'. I am a cynic through and through, learned behaviour from DH who takes no prisoners!!

I thought I'd lost my debit card a while ago and realised that I had no idea what number to call to report it! I could have driven to a branch, but what about people who rely on public transport?

I've now made a note of the number to phone to report a lost or stolen card and keep it in various places (in case my bag's stolen too).

Not scam-related, but thought I'd mention it on this thread.

I think the main thing holding people back is embarrassment. We helped a neighbour a while back who had lost a lot of money by giving his account details to his supposed bank 'for verification'. He was utterly mortified that he had been duped and once we had an inkling of what was going on we had to drag the information out of him. How do we get out of this way of thinking that scams are to be ashamed of? We're all human and they catch you when you're at your most vulnerable.

My brother too, who considers himself the worldliest of people, was taken advantage of. This was at an ATM and he was distracted by the lady behind him and next thing he knew his card had disappeared (so had she!) and by the time he got to the bank down the road, a chunk of money had been withdrawn. It's the oldest trick - they all are - but surely human nature is to be trusting? How do you protect yourself without becoming a horribly sceptical shrew?

My mum gets incessant calls from 'the worldwide web' regarding a supposed virus on her computer. Luckily I was there the first time they called because although she's very capable online, she's a very trusting person and could quite possibly have given this man her details. I'd like to know how we can stop these calls? Or prevent them in the first place? How did she get on to the database in the first place? She also gets loads of PPI calls (as do most of us I'm sure).