Our miners have always been like heroes to me. It feels as if those images of them emerging from mines after a day digging for black gold have been engrained since I was young. There’s a sense of national pride in what they did. They’re part of our heritage, our culture, part of the industry which shaped much of south Wales.
Now the pensions that they built through risking their lives every day working underground, are under threat from callous scammers.
After working on X-Ray for more than eight years, I know only too well that these unscrupulous people don’t care who their victims are. They could be elderly, vulnerable, it doesn’t matter. Now it’s our miners who are the latest target.
Lucy talks to Gerry Keighley from Age Cymru on location in Aberdare about the cold callers who are targeting the pensions of former miners
Age Cymru say these people are cold-calling former miners. For £200 they’ll promise to increase their pension through a government scheme. But Age Cymru say it’s all a heartless con to get their cash.
We’ll get the full story on X-Ray on BBC One Wales on Monday 23 February at 7.30pm. But in the meantime, here’s the basic advice.
- Never give any information about your pension to people who ring you up out of the blue.
- You’ll be able to access your pension fund to invest from April. So watch out for more interest in your pensions from scammers. They could also use it to add credibility to the lie they’re peddling.
- Try and stop those cold calls in the first place. The Telephone Preference Service is a free service which enables you to join the official register to opt out of unsolicited calls.
And if you’ve been targeted by this latest scam, let us know. Call X-Ray on 03703 334334 or email xray@bbc.co.uk.
