Police launch annual Shut Out Scammers campaign

Doorstep crime is a problem that continues to plague our communities’ year on year. These incidents can have a devastating and lasting effect on victims from disruption to their homes, or property and financial loss that impacts heavily on their emotional wellbeing and health.

This is why we feel it is so important to run a yearly Shut Out Scammers campaign, in our effort to raise awareness and provide guidance on the matter of doorstep crime.

This year’s campaign, titled ‘It is not easy to spot a rogue trader’, aims to highlight the signs to look out for when trying to identify a rogue trader or bogus caller at your door, and the support mechanisms available to help you do this.

With the main message of the campaign being:

It’s not easy to spot a rogue trader. They will often look genuine. They will look professional, have a branded van, a website, and business cards. They may even have their company listed on review sites, and appear to be endorsed by reputable trade associations. They may look authentic, but cowboy traders just want to scam you.

Don’t let scammers in to your home.

Just say no.

How Can You Spot a Rogue Trader?

The most common types of work offered are roofing, driveways and gardening. They mainly operate during the spring and summer months when lots of people are looking to get work done around the house and garden.

It is difficult to tell the difference from a real tradesman; however they will:

• Offer to do small jobs cheaper than competitors. However, once started they claim that urgent and more expensive repair work is needed on your property when this is not the case.
• Claim they can start immediately and offer special discounted deals if you pay in cash now, trying to rush your decision.
• Complete similar work in your area to give you confidence in them. However, scammers have been known to finish one job in order to get into a local area. They then go on to scam, mislead and overcharge additional customers in the surrounding area.
• They can have a local telephone number and claim to have a local business premises. Telephone numbers can now be purchased and business units can be let short term. Scammers will often go to great lengths to make you believe they are local.
• They may even drive a branded vehicle and have a website that they can direct you toare able to supply a business card.

Due to the current COVID 19 pandemic, remember that you and the tradespersons should adhere to the social distancing guidelines to keep safe.

Call 101 to report any suspicious activity. If you feel scared or threatened call 999 and ask for the police.

For more information on spotting the signs of a rogue trader visit Trading Standards site, while further advice in relation to COVID19 scams can be found here.

What can you do to shut out the scammers?

• If you don’t want any cold callers, you can request a No Cold Calling sticker from your local Trading Standards office.
• Always ask for identification.
• Ask to see a business card or letterhead for full contact details for the company. Call the business to check it exists and that the contractor does work for them.
• Request to see proof of qualifications in their trade.
• Consult your local Trusted Trader Scheme via approvedtrader.scot and obtain three quotes for any maintenance work.
• Check to see if the contractor is a member of a trade association by searching the trade association websites.
• Never feel pressured into making a decision on the spot. Any legitimate trader will be happy to return at a later date, use this time to research their business.
• Never agree to a trader starting work straight away and never hand over any money without seeing proper paperwork.
• Making sure that you understand the terms and conditions, including cancellation rights. Make use of your cooling off period to think about the proposed work.
• Never be afraid to say ‘No thank you’ and close the door.
• You can also sign up to the Neighbourhood Watch Scotland Alert system to receive timely alerts about local crime prevention and safety issues from partners such as Police Scotland.