Len Goodman teams up with bank for ‘scam avoidance’ promo

Len Goodman has become the first graduate of the ‘Scam Avoidance School’.

Len Goodman is promoting how to avoid being scammed by criminals.

The face of Farmfoods and former Strictly Come Dancing head judge Len Goodman is promoting a new nationwide initiative by Santander for over 60s all over the UK to help them to avoid being a victim of money scams.

TV presenter, professional ballroom dancer and Strictly Come Dancing’s former head judge, Len Goodman, 73, has added a new string to his bow today by enlisting with the SAS (that’s the Scam Avoidance School). Created by Santander, the SAS is a free class being offered to over 60s all over the UK to help them avoid being taken in by scammers. And how did the Scam Avoidance School’s first student do?  A perfect ten for Len, naturally, who waltzed his way through a syllabus of phishing, vishing, smishing and cash point cons.

The Scam Avoidance School is a nationwide initiative by Santander and has been developed in partnership with fraud expert Dr Paul Seager, psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire. 

The creation of the Scam Avoidance School follows research by Age UK1 highlighting how older people are one of the most at-risk groups for being scammed – and that upwards of five million over 65s have been targeted by scammers. 

Additional research2 by Santander has revealed that the overwhelming majority of older people (82 per cent) believe more needs to be done to help their age group learn about scams and avoid having their money and identities stolen.

Aside from wanting to do all he can to help other over 60s wise up to the tricks employed by scammers, Len Goodman was first to sign up to the SAS given his personal experience of fraud when his daughter-in-law lost around £16,000. 

After sailing through the Scam Avoidance School, Len Goodman stepped back in front of the camera to pass on some of what he learned to the nation. You can see his hints and tips in the video below.

“It seems like scammers are everywhere today, using all kinds of sneaky tricks to scam us over 60s – whether it’s with emails, cold calls or even at the cash machine. But enough is enough. People of my age – we’ve got to have our wits about us, be more aware and more alert to scams so we can quickstep our way around the dangers and keep our bank accounts safe. The Scam Avoidance School was a real eye-opener for me: I learned a lot about how to avoid scams and I want to pass on this knowledge to as many people as I can.” – Len Goodman

Santander launches the Scam Avoidance School (SAS) with Len Goodman from Monument Media on Vimeo.