EFFORTS to protect elderly people from opportunist scammers took centre stage in the Wee County recently.

The Clackmannanshire Older Adult Forum held an information workshop at their May meeting, with guest speaker Douglas Blyth, from the Santander bank, giving a presentation.

Fraudsters have often targeted vulnerable pensioners in the area, with some losing thousands from their savings.

The recent event was set up to help provide information on how to prevent doorstep, telephone and online fraud.

Florence MacKenzie, secretary of the forum, told the Advertiser: "This was something we were interested in because there is so much of it going on, especially with older people.

"He [Mr Blyth] just went through how to protect yourself from fraud.

"A friend of someone at the forum had received an email saying she would get 'x' number of pounds.

"She sent £300, but they wanted £600, so she asked friends for money and they told her it was a scam."

Ms MacKenzie has been affected by attempted fraud herself, when an old computer that she hadn't destroyed was hacked.

The con artists sent out a fake email to her contacts saying that she and her family and were in Belgium but were stranded with no money.

She joked: "The upside was that we had heard from friends that we hadn't heard from in years. An old boss phoned asking if we were okay."

Elderly people in Clacks have fallen victim to scammers in recent years, with one woman conned out of hundreds of pounds by bogus workmen last June.

And a man from Tullibody lost £5,000 in April last year after receiving an unsolicited call, which he believed was from his internet supplier, advising him that there was an issue with his router.

He was told he would be compensated £200 and after providing his bank details, it appeared he had been credited £5200.

The pensioner was then asked to send the overpayment of £5000 back, which was in fact his own money.

The forum comprises representatives from a number of different community groups in Clackmannanshire, who attend the monthly meetings and share what they learned when they return to prevent similar instances reoccurring.

"People take the information back to our groups in the county," Ms Mackenzie added. "Our speakers are always pleased because they get a real lively discussion and there's always good feedback."