The Ulster Unionist Peer, Lord Empey has expressed his disgust at news that fraudsters have been attempting to use the Covid-19 crisis as a means to engage in criminal activity in the form of scams, including preying on the elderly.

Lord Empey said:

“I have just participated in the first 'virtual' meeting of Parliament. It took the form of an extended Oral question session where Ministers answered Members who have put their names down in advance, including for supplementary questions.

“One horrible revelation to emerge from the question session, was the degree to which fraudsters are preying on elderly and vulnerable people and trying to cheat them out of money by offering bogus tests for Covid-19, offering PPE kit which will never arrive, and demanding a ransom from isolated individuals by threatening to block their internet connection and cut them off from the outside world.

“This crisis has generally brought out the best in people and communities, but we should not close our eyes to the fact that it has also brought out the worst in some as well. People need to take care and avoid scams and dubious offers of quick fix tests and dummy PPE which would - if it even exists - be of little or no use in protecting us from this virus.

“The people responsible for these scams need to be hunted down by the police and should receive no leniency when they are brought before the courts.   

“With regard to Parliament itself, I have no doubt that this 'virtual' Parliament will become more effective in the next few weeks, but realistically there is no substitute for the face to face Parliament we are used to, where we can hold Ministers to account and can access them on a daily basis. The truth is that we often take our democracy for granted. This crisis is a wake up call for us all and I look forward to the day when we can be safely released from this lockdown.”