THE RIPPLE effect of scams on elderly and vulnerable people must not be underestimated, a police sergeant has warned.

North Wales Police has seen a spate of burglaries, doorstep crime and telephone fraud over recent weeks.

Many of the incidents - which have involved bogus callers, rogue traders and scammers - have targeted elderly people.

The most recent five incidents happened on Tuesday in Hawarden, Mold, Sychdyn, Buckley and Mynydd Isa.

Alison Sharp, community safety sergeant for Wrexham and Flintshire, said: "This is happening across Wrexham and Flintshire.

"We had three different incidents in Sychdyn in the last few days where a white van was seen in the locality, possibly with suspects in.

"There are a lot of different types of scams going on - one of the scammers told an elderly lady he had done work to her guttering and demanded cash.

"They are trying to find intelligence on these people who are often vulnerable and alone and these scams often lead to other crimes like burglaries.

"The impact of these crimes is not to be underestimated - it can often lead to death.

"That sounds dramatic but these incidents are devastating to these people and it knocks their confidence, causes to them isolate themselves and leads to physical health problems.

"It is vile and cruel. Our message is for people to look out for their elderly neighbours, friends and loved ones."

Sgt Sharp added her team is working closely with Trading Standards and advised residents to visit a website set up by National Trading Standards entitled www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk

Members of Holywell Town Council discussed the issue on Tuesday evening.

Denise Edwards, director of OWL Cymru, spoke at the meeting about how they are delivering a ‘vital service’ to elderly people.

She said: “I want to emphasise that these people are being targeted by criminals.

"We have seen a recent spike in the last couple of weeks and want people to know that it will not be tolerated.

“Sometimes people who want to report these crimes are unable to do so as they cannot reach the police control room or feel that there is nothing they can do once they have gone.

"That is why OWL has become such a vital service I would urge people to sign up for and stay alert.”

The council heard of an 88-year-old woman who contacted OWL after being targeted by fraudsters posing as Microsoft, BT and TalkTalk over the phone in one week and said it felt as bad as facing a burglar in their own home.

Sgt Gavin Gilmore, of the force's South Flintshire team, added: "Elderly victims in their houses are being targeted.

"Offenders are stealing high powered cars and these are then used in the burglaries of elderly residents.

"We are warning all family members of elderly residents, a lot of them live on their own.

"We are advising them not to have money in the address, give it to family members to be looked after if need be.

"We are also doing target hardening with OWL Cymru which allows us to install CCTV cameras and alarms on windows and doors which gives us the opportunity to identify who these traders are.

"A lot of elderly people don’t have access to online banking and in these communities the banks have closed or are going to close so the victims are keeping money they obtain through pensions or whatever at home and it’s often large amounts of money.

"Elderly people like to live alone to keep their independence as long as they can but as part of the operation we are speaking to family members to discuss how they can help.

"We are giving out information slips to elderly people who may not have access to a smartphone to take pictures, they can write down what they see and any descriptions they can remember and they can hand that to us.

"They seem to be travelling around the areas and they are getting around Flintshire South.

"They can be quite intimidating so victims hand over the cash."

Sgt Sharp added incidents can be reported on 101 but 999 can be called if a crime is being carried out at that time.

A spokesman for North Wales Police confirmed to the Leader on Wednesday that an investigation is ongoing and nobody has yet been charged in relation to the recent burglaries, doorstep crime or phone fraud involving elderly people.