Pensioner? This way you avoid being cheated by the seller

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Pensioner This way you avoid being cheated by the seller

Every year, thousands of frauds are reported in Sweden. In 2023, the number of reported crimes increased by 22 percent to 238,371.

Some of the reports concern companies that sold products or services to you but that for one reason or another did not live up to expectations or consumer legislation.

READ MORE: Exposed of fraud? Don’t forget to do this

PRO wants to see a change in the law

A survey carried out by the Pensioners’ national organization, PRO, showed that 30 percent of the 34,000 who participated had been exposed to fraud attempts in the past year. It has made PRO’s chairman Åsa Lindestam now want to see a change in the law.

– How many more pensioners will have to lose their life savings before we see the government and the banks take action? Information campaigns are not enough, now is the time to legislate on requirements for preventive measures and for banks to compensate their customers if their services are not sufficiently secure, she said in a press release.

READ MORE: PRO’s demands after the wave of fraud against the elderly

The Swedish Consumer Agency: Then you have the right to report

According to The Swedish Consumer Agency As a consumer, you have the right to report everything from marketing, contract terms and price to lack of security and inappropriate sales methods.

You can report the latter if you believe that a company used a sales method that you felt was inappropriate. For example, you can report companies if:

  • they knowingly provide incorrect and/or misleading information,
  • has an aggressive or assertive sales approach,
  • sends products without you ordering anything,
  • sends an invoice without you having ordered anything or
  • if they deliberately deceive and target vulnerable groups, for example the elderly and the sick.

    • DO NOT MISS: Then you can draw a general pension – it applies to your cohort

    Photo: Tim Aro/TT This is how you avoid being cheated as an elderly person

    That the elderly in particular are especially vulnerable to fraud or inappropriate sales methods is nothing new. In 2023, 29,000 notifications were made by pensioners, of which only three percent were resolved.

    Against this background, it is therefore extra important to know how to protect yourself in situations you feel result in you being cheated, or at risk of being cheated. It is equally important for relatives to know how to best protect an elderly relative from being cheated – as far as possible.

    The newspaper Advice & Opinion lists what you, as an elderly person, should think about when a telemarketer calls:

  • Ask to have the agreement sent home.
  • Do not sign new agreements until the old one has expired.
  • Make sure you are enrolled in the nix registry that prevents telemarketers from calling.

    • If you as a relative notice that an agreement has been concluded, you can always use the right of withdrawal for 14 days, which applies to distance agreements.

    DO NOT MISS: Early retirement? Then you can miss out on up to 4,700 a month

    Photo: Martina Holmberg/TT

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