AtHomeWithGloriaHunnifordOctober2016 - 56

▲ THE BIG INTERVIEW HAVING CHILDREN IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER DONE. HAVING LOST MY GORGEOUS CARON, IT HAS MADE ME DOUBLY AWARE OF HOW IMPORTANT CHILDREN ARE distress caused to Ms Hunniford for being the victim of a scam and, as is our normal practice in a case like this, we have reimbursed her fully for her ﬁnancial loss. 'We have also made signiﬁcant improvements to our processes to ensure this type of fraudulent activity is prevented in future.' Gloria's eyes were opened even further by this statement, yet she remains realistic about the current movements of fraudsters. 'We see it all the time on Rip Oﬀ Britain. Scammers are extremely clever these days and, unfortunately, elderly people are the most vulnerable. They target areas where they know older people live. If it's snowing, for example, scammers will spot a roof tile that's loose, knock on the front door and oﬀer to do the work, even though they are unqualiﬁed - then they con the homeowners out of money. But what happened to me was a badly researched scam that worked on the basis of a fake driving licence, with many mistakes on it. There were a lot of loopholes, but they got away with it. 'I'm in a quandary now - I don't know where to put my money. I thought it was safe in a bank account!' IN FOR THE LONG HAUL strangers! I'm asked about nine or 10 diﬀerent questions. And if my husband wanted to be a co-signatory, I'd have to write a letter of authority etc. So the fact that total strangers could do this is violating and has caused me a lot of distress.' Gloria got her money back straight away, but that wasn't the point, she says. 'It's the principle of it. Even though you think your money in a savings account is locked up and safe in a bank, it isn't. And that's the most disappointing thing.' Santander responded, issuing this statement: 'Santander takes fraud extremely seriously. As soon as we identiﬁed this fraudulent activity, we alerted the authorities as well as Ms Hunniford herself. We are very sympathetic to the 056 | NOVEMBER 2016 Gloria always believes something will tell her when it's time to hang up her mic, but she doesn't intend to retire any time soon. 'Retirement is not in my vocabulary. I want to keep going as long as people want me to, really. I'm motivated by the fact that I learn something new every day. I meet new people all the time and have a bit of a laugh. I've learned so much, especially through Rip Oﬀ Britain - and I act on it. 'I would be bored if I wasn't working. I'd hate the repetition of every day. Having said that, I treasure the days I'm at home, but that's because I'm so busy the rest of the time. One gesture I've made towards getting older is I try not to work every day - I try to give myself a day in between.' Rip Oﬀ Britain has been commissioned for at least another two years, and Gloria hopes to stay on Loose Women for the foreseeable future. She's also got a couple of documentaries in the pipeline, based in Northern Ireland, conﬁrming she's still in demand. 'I've always got a bit of variety, and for that I'm grateful. That's why I don't intend to stop working.'

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