“Mate crime”, a loose term for this type of exploitation, typically happens to people who are vulnerable in some way, he says, and victims are often older people and those with learning disabilities and autism.
“The prospect of life without friendship is a pretty bleak one, and the sorts of things people are prepared to put up with in order to have someone in their life that they regard as being a friend are pretty extreme,” he says.
Signs that there may be a problem include when someone might have less money than they should be expected to have, or does not have enough money to eat, says Ali Gunn of United Response, a social care charity.
Davis says there was no sign of what would transpire when she first offered her friend – whom she had known for a few years – a home when he said he was at risk of homelessness.
Davis now realises, after help from friends and charities, that she was the victim of “mate crime” – loosely defined as exploitation, abuse or theft involving someone who claims to be a friend.
