Not every victim of an internet or phone scam is greedy or foolish

PUBLIC sympathy is often in short supply for victims of internet, telephone or postal scams. The general view seems to be that their misfortune at least partly results from foolishness or greed, or a combination of both.

In some cases that may be true, but a disproportionate number of victims are from older age groups – people who may have reached a stage in life when it has become less easy to distinguish between genuine and unscrupulous communicators.

There have always been unscrupulous people who try to trick others for financial gain, but computer technology, desktop publishing, the availability of information and ease of communication by e-mail and the web seem to have contributed to a sharp increase in recent years.

Indeed, such is the sophistication of some of these schemes that some victims are far removed from the vulnerable and trusting individuals you might expect to fall prey to cons.

What can make people even more vulnerable, particularly in the current economic climate, is a perfectly understandable wish to maintain a reasonable standard of living in the face of sharply rising prices. Many people with a fixed income, or savings reduced by inflation, will be naturally drawn to an investment scheme which promises to offer a better return than conventional vehicles.

Dodgy investment or share practices are usually known as "boiler room" scams. The potential victim will be contacted out of the blue by a stranger trying to sell shares in companies which he or she has probably never even heard of.

Initial contact can be by phone, post or e-mail, or they might advertise on the internet. The scammer may offer a free research report into a company in which you already hold shares, a free gift or a discount on their dealing charges. Anyone taken in may be left with potentially worthless shares and without a right to claim compensation, as most boiler room scams are based overseas and are not covered by UK regulation.

Fewer victims might be susceptible if they had been aware that UK regulated financial services firms are not permitted to engage in cold calling.

Fortunately, elderly or other vulnerable people who are afraid they may be targeted will find most banks helpful in taking measures to prevent this. This can include setting limits on single payments that an account holder can authorise by cash card or cheque.

Bank account and credit card scams are potentially even more serious than boiler room fraud as they open the way to naked theft not only of a person's money, but of their identity as well. Known as "phishing", the former involves e-mails or pop-up messages that claim to be from a bank or an online payment service, such as Ebay or PayPal.

There has been a very recent spate of these claiming to report that following an unauthorised attempt to access an online banking account, they are taking security measures. The message will ask you to "update", "validate", or "confirm" your account information by e-mail or by clicking on a link to a website that looks just like the real thing. An e-mail like this should immediately ring alarm bells because a genuine message from a legitimate, regulated UK bank would never invite the recipient to access its website using a "one-click" facility in this way.

Outright electronic theft is usually a matter for the police, but scamming organisations are so numerous and their whereabouts so transient (and secretive) that locating, investigating and then prosecuting those involved is extremely difficult. Even when an offender is brought to justice, victims are unlikely to see even a small proportion of their money returned. This is definitely one crime where prevention – rather than prosecution – is by far the better option.

Also beware the scams targeting our goodwill and compassion, such as sponsorship for education from students in areas of deprivation. In recent months there has been a wave of genuine looking handwritten applications, sometimes accompanied by a relatively official looking letter telling a sadly realistic story of the tragic loss of parents, perhaps through Aids or in childbirth, and seeking help with fees at a nursing and midwifery college. Making a few checks is not cynical and it might just make sure that your donation goes to someone who really needs your help.

• Carole Hope is a partner in Edinburgh solicitors Murray Beith Murray WS