Fraud can raise male victims’ blood pressure for more than a decade after crime, study suggests

Researcher says financial exploitation has ‘important public health consequences’, Lamiat Sabin reports

Men can suffer raised blood pressure after being victims of fraud (Joe Giddens/PA)

Older men who have been victims of fraud and financial exploitation can suffer from elevated blood pressure for at least a decade afterwards, new research suggests.

Higher blood pressure – also known as hypertension – was found in men that had been scammed, but not in women, the study found.

In the study, about 1,200 men and women were observed over a period of up to 11 years. Three-quarters of the subjects were women, and they had an average age of 81.