Scam calls impersonating Age UK ask elderly victims about home conditions to harvest personal data
Impersonating: Age UK
What is this scam?
Fraudsters are cold-calling vulnerable and elderly people while falsely claiming to be from Age UK, the national charity supporting older people. Callers ask personal questions about housing conditions — particularly damp, mould, or insulation — and enquire whether the recipient owns their home, apparently to identify vulnerable homeowners for follow-up financial or doorstep fraud. Age UK County Durham confirmed the scam is active in August 2026 and warned that the real Age UK never cold-calls members of the public about home surveys.
Example scam message
Caller: 'Hello, I'm calling from Age UK. We're conducting a survey in your area about housing conditions affecting older residents. Could I ask — do you own your home? We've had reports of damp and mould problems and we're offering free assessments. Could you confirm your name and address so we can arrange a survey visit?' [Age UK does not make unsolicited cold calls — hang up and contact Age UK directly on 0800 055 6112 to verify any contact claiming to be from the charity]
Red flags to look out for
- The message creates urgency — threatening a fine, missed delivery, or account closure.
- Links lead to unofficial domains that don't match the real company's website.
- You weren't expecting this message and can't verify the event it references.
- It asks you to confirm payment details or personal information via a link.
- The sender's number or email address doesn't match the company's official contact.
What to do if you receive this
- Do not click links or call numbers provided in the message.
- Contact the organisation directly using details from their official GOV.UK page.
- Forward the message to 7726 or email report@phishing.gov.uk.
- Report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk.
Received this message?
Forward it to 7726 (free on all UK networks) to report it to your mobile provider.
You can also report it to Action Fraud
or email the NCSC at report@phishing.gov.uk.
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