Alarming rise in new ways of conning the public has led to appointment

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) trustee Martyn Buckley has become an official Scambassador for Friends Against Scams, a UK-wide initiative for Trading Standards.

The appointment comes at the end of Scams Awareness Month, which ran throughout June.

Friends Against Scams aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering communities to take a stand, highlighting the scale of the problem and change the perceptions of why people fall for scams.

Buckley has worked in public sector finance for 40 years, serving in a number of local authorities across Scotland, including the Western Isles, Perth and Kinross and Scottish Borders.

Following this he did financial training and project consultancy work for a number of public sector bodies. He has been a trustee of the Scottish Borders CAB consortium since 2011, and was elected to the Board of Citizens Advice Scotland in 2017.

Buckley said: "I'm delighted to take on this role on behalf of CAS. We have just brought our own Scams Awareness Month to an end, and it has been one of the biggest and most successful anti-scam campaigns we have ever run.

"But the fight against scams must be an ongoing effort, with many different partners working together all year round to raise awareness of how many scams exist and how people can beat them.

"Our message to people across the country is to always be vigilant and on the look-out for scams, and if you do come across one make sure you report it to the police or to trading standards. That's how we will stop the scammers.”