MSP condemns scam and nuisance callers as new fund arrives to protect most affected constituents

 MSP Gil Paterson has welcomed a fund to stop nuisance callers from constantly bothering his constituents.

A new £50,000 money pot has been unveiled by the SNP government to install call-blocking technology to those most at risk.

The fund forms part of the SNP government’s Nuisance Calls Action Plan to clamp down on scam and nuisance calls.

The policy was unveiled by Scotland’s economy secretary Keith Brown on Monday September 11.

Mr Paterson said: “So many of my constituents are bothered on a daily basis by a deluge of annoying and unwanted phone calls.

“More often than not, a phone call that someone receives seems more likely to be a dubious-sounding sales call or a robotic voice telling us we’ve won a million pounds again.

“Much of the time, these are cold-hearted scammers out to con a few bob off a vulnerable elderly person. This infuriates me.

“I am glad to see SNP government’s plan to stop these scammers, time-wasters and overall pests from getting through to us.”

ENDS

​Notes
 
https://news.gov.scot/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan
 
UK-wide statistics on nuisance calls (http://press.which.co.uk/whichpressreleases/scottish-cities-top-the-table-for-nuisance-calls/):