Oct 4, 2026 · 43 min · 17 segments
Memory loss makes people particularly vulnerable to scams, fraud and other dishonest behaviour. In this episode, Sonia and I are joined by a very special guest, Marc Cananur (Hunted, and BBC Morning…
Catherine LovedayHost
Marc CananurGuestSonia BeldomHostAnd there are so many elements in there, aren't there? There's the emotion, there's the trust, there's the tapping into things that those people think are safe, like the police and banks, and the sense that they're doing something for society as well.
You know, you are helping, you're doing something for society here and being made to feel special.
And I suppose particularly if people are lonely, it can make them feel quite important, I suppose.
And bizarrely, there will be people who don't sadly speak to people for days on end.
If there's repeat phone calls because they're being retargeted the next day, during that time they'll have built up a rapport and an understanding of, what that victim's into if they like gardening pets if they're religious they'll talk about all these things to the point where the victim is thinking this is actually quite nice to be engaging with someone a human for a period of time where they're showing interest in me
Yeah, one of our episodes has been on connection and social connection and the importance of that and why it does make people feel like they're part of what's going on.
Can I ask you, Mark, how you think that memory loss kind of makes people particularly vulnerable? We know that older people are vulnerable already, but why might memory loss and dementia make people even more vulnerable to it?
Because of the dementia aspect, they're not remembering previous conversations, either in terms of safety advice from loved ones, or they're not recalling transactions they've made maybe the day before.
They're not recognising and processing, hang on, I've already given the police £10,000 yesterday.
Because of that vulnerability, and in this case dementia, they're not making those informed financial decisions.
We had a number of attempts on this with my mum and we were luckily able to intercept all of them actually, but only because we were keeping a very close eye.
But I think that point that you make of not being able to remember the advice is really important actually.
You know, there's a lot to take in there, isn't there? There's a lot to remember.
And as you say, anybody is open to scams and these kind of crimes, but you just are so much more vulnerable if you can't hold on to the advice.
And I remember with my mum, she kind of had a bit of an instinct that something wasn't right, but she couldn't remember what she had to do, drawing the wrong conclusion, I guess.
Yeah, and it's interesting, sorry to interrupt you, just picking up on what you said there about, you know, they feel that they've maybe done the wrong thing.
What we often find is this sort of crime, fraud in general and courier fraud as well, it's underreported because victims feel humiliated, embarrassed.
Often they'll just put it to one side, bottle it up and never let anyone know.
And there are so many elements in there, aren't there? There's the emotion, there's the trust, there's the tapping into things that those people think are safe, like the police and banks, and the sense that they're doing something for society as well.
You know, you are helping, you're doing something for society here and being made to feel special.
And I suppose particularly if people are lonely, it can make them feel quite important, I suppose.
And bizarrely, there will be people who don't sadly speak to people for days on end.
If there's repeat phone calls because they're being retargeted the next day, during that time they'll have built up a rapport and an understanding of, what that victim's into if they like gardening pets if they're religious they'll talk about all these things to the point where the victim is thinking this is actually quite nice to be engaging with someone a human for a period of time where they're showing interest in me
Yeah, one of our episodes has been on connection and social connection and the importance of that and why it does make people feel like they're part of what's going on.
Can I ask you, Mark, how you think that memory loss kind of makes people particularly vulnerable? We know that older people are vulnerable already, but why might memory loss and dementia make people even more vulnerable to it?
Because of the dementia aspect, they're not remembering previous conversations, either in terms of safety advice from loved ones, or they're not recalling transactions they've made maybe the day before.
They're not recognising and processing, hang on, I've already given the police £10,000 yesterday.
Because of that vulnerability, and in this case dementia, they're not making those informed financial decisions.
We had a number of attempts on this with my mum and we were luckily able to intercept all of them actually, but only because we were keeping a very close eye.
But I think that point that you make of not being able to remember the advice is really important actually.
You know, there's a lot to take in there, isn't there? There's a lot to remember.
And as you say, anybody is open to scams and these kind of crimes, but you just are so much more vulnerable if you can't hold on to the advice.
And I remember with my mum, she kind of had a bit of an instinct that something wasn't right, but she couldn't remember what she had to do, drawing the wrong conclusion, I guess.
Yeah, and it's interesting, sorry to interrupt you, just picking up on what you said there about, you know, they feel that they've maybe done the wrong thing.
What we often find is this sort of crime, fraud in general and courier fraud as well, it's underreported because victims feel humiliated, embarrassed.
Often they'll just put it to one side, bottle it up and never let anyone know.
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