Scam callers and rogue traders

Scam callers and rogue traders

Recently we have had a spate of incidents reported to us around scam callers and rogue traders in Mickleover and Littleover. They are typically phone calls, usually to a home telephone, and will claim to be from a building company that has recently done work on the address; more often than not roofing work- which would be difficult for the homeowner to see- and that they will be returning to collect the money, or to intimidate the home owner. Currently those targeted tend to live alone and be part of the older community; it’s believed that they are being targeted through online or physical directories and the supposed tradesmen never attends. 

This is a common tactic by scam callers and it relies on the victim feeling intimidated and pressured into handing over money during the phonecall, or when they arrive on the doorstep. They will call a huge number of people in a day, but one ‘successful’ call can yield them thousands of pounds from their victims. 

Recently, in Mickleover, a home owner was contacted on her home telephone to say that the building company had recently visited and wanted several thousands of pounds, otherwise they would turn up at her house. When she countered that she hadn’t requested or agreed any work to take place, they implied she must have forgot because of her age. She made some enquiries on the street and all neighbours confirmed no work had taken place. This left her, understandably, shaken and anxious for several days that the rogue traders would attend her address.

On other occasions it might be that a resident has agreed for work to be done by a door to door salesperson; this work might be completed, often not to a standard that the customer is satisfied with, and the tradesperson will reattend to claim more money for materials, or to put it right.

It can be very intimidating and worrying to deal with scam callers, but there are a number of actions you can do to either verify their legitimacy, or to give you more time to consider, whilst making authorities aware:

It is worth noting that there are countless legitimate, trusted and professional trades people and companies out there and it is worth taking the time to research them and request quotes before committing to any work being carried out. 

If you, or someone you know, have had an interaction like this recently, please do let us know a sit helps to build the bigger picture around who these people are, and where they are targeting so we can take action. 

Many thanks,

Sam 12829