Rogue Traders

Another form of bogus caller is the rogue trader — criminals posing as tradespeople and offering to carry out maintenance work on your home.  Often they carry out the work very poorly and charge extremely inflated prices.  They can even demand payment up front and then fail to carry out the work at all, leaving fake contact details so the householder has no opportunity to get their money back.

Police work jointly with local authority trading standards officers and other agencies to target offenders who prey on vulnerable members a of the community in this way.  Reducing the numbers of these offences is a key priority for the force.

Householders can protect themselves by:

• Taking advice from family, friends or reputable traders to check if the work really needs doing
• If you do decide the work needs doing, always obtain several quotes and make sure the quote you accept is in writing
• Ask for details of previous satisfied customers and contact them.  Go and see the work for yourself if you can
• Only use businesses that have an address and landline number, not just a mobile telephone number
• Look to use businesses that are registered as part of a trade organisation - this can give you more protection if things go wrong
• If you have any concerns about a business or tradesperson, check with your local trading standards office or crime risk manager before engaging their services.

Look Out For Your Neighbours

Friends, neighbours and people who have regular contact with older and vulnerable people can help them to make their lives more secure.

Research shows that fewer distraction burglaries are committed in areas where there is a supportive community. You can help by:

• Keeping an eye on people calling in the area or acting suspiciously
• Noting the registration numbers of vehicles parked in your area for a period of time
• Calling 0300 333 3000 to provide information to the police about suspicious people, activity or vehicles, however insignificant it may seem
• Calling on vulnerable people regularly. If it is not too much trouble, help them keep their front garden tidy and find reliable tradespeople for any maintenance work that really does need to be undertake.