It showed the misuse of power and the helplessness of ordinary people to state their case. It was too easy for authorities to assume the guilt of individuals rather than face the reality that a system was wrong. While it is sad that it took a TV series to galvanise the media, the company and government into action, at last the penny dropped. Even more remarkable was the speed with which government was prepared to change the law to address the wrongs.

While the issues we have with pension and investment scams are different, they have exactly the same core problem; tone deaf authorities, lack of motivation to act and deep-seated belief that the little person must be at fault.

The Post Office scandal had an unexpected benefit – media interest in other cases where ordinary people suffer at the hands of unscrupulous players and arcane legal systems. Suddenly, the work of PSIG and the Investment Fraud APPG was catapulted into the spotlight. I had to put my “day job” on hold to talk to the BBC MoneyBox, the FT, the Yorkshire Post, the Mail and Good Housekeeping magazine. I had to rush to Manchester on a Friday evening to appear on the BBC Breakfast sofa on the Saturday morning 20th January – they have asked me to return to talk about progress – a good sign. My APPG colleagues, Carly Barnes-Short and Caroline Nokes, MP appeared on BBC MoneyBox two weeks in a row.

I also had the pleasure of speaking at the Female Forum hosted by Sackers recently and I was amazed at the willingness of senior women to step up and help the cause. Girl power!

We had a meeting in Parliament with senior HMRC officials and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury in which they promised to work with us to find a solution. We have called for a moratorium on the pursuit of scam victims for tax charges, to give everyone a breathing space to focus on the art of the possible, but mainly to halt the mental anguish suffered by scam victims over the last decade.

While it is gratifying to see so much media and government interest, we need to keep the pressure up or it could become a one-hit wonder – and that would be a shame for all the people whose hopes have been raised a fraction by the recent flurry of activity.

So, what do we really want and how can you help?

Firstly, we must have recognition that ordinary people who are persuaded by unscrupulous advisers to hand over their life savings where they are stolen or misused are not the criminals. They are victims. Victim blaming is corrosive, as we have seen in other types of crime and only serves to maintain the illusion that we are punishing those who do wrong.

Secondly, we need a public inquiry into the historic tax treatment of people who have been defrauded - especially where the authorities enabled the fraud by poor oversight of the real offenders. Other countries have addressed these same problems with success, yet we remain wedded to our arcane approaches. PSIG asked for a minor change to tax law in 2019 and we are still asking! A £20million concession by Treasury then could have prevented suicides and the mental suffering of many. Repeating the same old propaganda needs to stop. We’ve now seen how quickly the law can be changed when there is parliamentary will to do it.

Thirdly, we need to recognise the actual harm done to the UK economy by the scammers and fraudsters and invest properly in pursuit and prosecution wherever they are. We know where many of them are and do little about it. I realise this is a big ask when government wants to cut back on public expenditure, but we lose as much to financial fraud as we pay to the NHS each year. I know where I’d prefer my taxes to be spent!

So how can you help?

Margaret Snowdon, Chair PSIG