Do you get targeted by criminals because you are vulnerable?

coladrpeppersprite

I find that because benefits are low income I find myself in a poor area, and because its poor its full of drugs and crime, and so a vulnerable disabled person is then the ideal target, like a slab of butter amongst 20 hot knives (and I hear swords now too) ?

Is it just me being targeted or are you guys having a simalr issue?

Ironside1990

Yes, I believe disabled people are vulnerable to criminals. Criminals can exploit disabled people in a number of ways. Friendship scams are one of them. A criminal could pretend to befriend a disabled person to gain their trust and then use them to do their bidding.

This can happen to people who are too trusting and don't understand that not everyone is nice.

I have been targeted in my home, when i lived with my mam. This was a few years ago. I had rubbish put through the letter box, mud thrown at the windows and the electric box tampered with, so the electric went off. I only had a cordless phone, which wouldn't work because the electric was off. It was a terrifying time, but they never bothered us again, when the police were involved. My mam went out on errands and they targeted the house because they knew a disabled person lived there and i was alone.

aworldalone93

Yes, it has happened to me before. I foolishly believed someone was my friend, and gave them a loan of all my savings. I don't have many friends, and I thought they were my friend. They then claimed they never said it was a loan, and it had been a gift from me, and when I said I had screenshots where they said 'loan' they just stopped speaking to me.

krs1958

My Mother who lived with me after a terminal illness was diagnosed was subject to various rouge’s arriving at my door claiming that small jobs like a replacement roof tile had been noticed. I was at work at the time and she didn’t tell me. Obviously a scam with no work carried out. It seems she was taken to a cash point and anything up to £100 was withdrawn.

When I assumed responsibility for her finances and health decisions with power of attorney I also found my sister was taking money from her account as loans but not re paid. Due to her illness Mum was getting confused and had memory problems.

I had CCTV and a doorbell camera installed which mostly stopped the rouge traders.

Since I’ve become ill and disabled some of these people have been to my door asking to speak to the old lady. Mum passed away in 2018.

I won’t go into any details but I have nothing to do with any of my family apart from one brother since her funeral.

I have retired medically since 2020 and the video kit deters the undesirable visitors. I own my own house and have signage up saying CCTV installed.

OverlyAnxious

Evolution has always been about survival of the fittest. The weak get preyed on by the strong. That's life unfortunately.

I'm lucky to live in an area with a fairly low crime rate, but don't do anything to draw attention to the fact that I'm disabled such as the use of signage or even a sunflower lanyard.

Over the years I've found many other people taking advantage of my situation, just not in a 'criminal' way. I don't know if that's better or worse!

Albus_Scope

Hi @coladrpeppersprite can I just ask, have you actually been targeted by criminals? Is this a regular thing and have you contacted the police about it?

Cantilip

No, and I've been here 8 years. Only brushes with criminals equally applied to able-bodied - there was a bloke one winter doing the rounds of the district saying he had a new-born baby at home and no money for electricity, and someone saw the basement flat was empty and sneaked in pretending to be the new tenant, behind the thoroughly agile and fit occupant of the top floor, who cleverly smiled politely and called the coppers - story not plausible, for a start why no key?