Business Compliance has received a report of a vulnerable couple in Whoberley being targeted by a cold caller offering to jet wash their roof.

A price of £200 was agreed and the trader started his team straight away without even the use of scaffolding.

The trader also failed to provide any paperwork.

A small amount of work was done, leaving a huge mess on the neighbouring property and vehicle.

The workers then left, stating they were off to get some food and would be back, but failed to return.

The ‘Boss’ later came back to explain that their machine had broken down so there would be a delay, and persuaded the residents to pay in full, promising to complete the work.

Although money had already been handed over, thanks to the prompt action of family members who became aware of what had happened, the trader did return and pay back £50 for all the ‘inconvenience and delay’.

However, the job remains unfinished and the trader never returned to finish it, as promised.

Rogue traders are individuals or groups of people who cold-call householders, often targeting vulnerable residents, claiming to be a bona fide business and purporting to offer services, most commonly buildings maintenance and repair, along with landscaping and gardening.

The current pandemic with a lot of people still working from home, or shielding, has provided a perfect opportunity for these rogues to catch more people at home and offer their services.

Our advice as always is not to deal with cold callers as this is a favoured approach used by rogue traders whose sole intention is to extract as much money from residents as possible.

We would also ask that if you have any elderly or vulnerable neighbours that you keep a look out especially if you notice cold callers in your area or anyone acting suspiciously. It would also help if registration numbers of vehicles being used by the cold callers are noted down and reported.

If you have any information that may help us track down these unscrupulous cold callers or you wish to report any incidents involving a rogue trader or doorstep crime, contact us on 0808 223 1133.

Top of page

We frequently receive reports about text messages claiming to be from various companies and organisations stating there are issues with accounts or payments.

With the current Covid-19 pandemic making it more difficult to contact the genuine companies, do not be panicked into responding:

These messages are spammed out randomly to huge numbers of mobile numbers hoping to trick people into clicking on a link which will take them to bogus versions of the organisation’s genuine website. There it will attempt to gather personal, login and financial details.

The messages will often claim that accounts have been frozen, that money is about to leave the account, that payments can’t be made or that there is unusual or fraudulent activity with the aim of panicking the recipient into reacting.

Business Compliance advice is:

• Do not click on any links or open attachment
• Do not reply to the message
• Do not call any numbers given in these messages

You can report suspicious or spam text messages to your network operator by forwarding the message to 7726. You may get an automated response thanking you for the report and giving you further instructions if needed. You will not be charged for sending texts to 7726.

If you are concerned about the security of a bank account contact the service provider directly using the Customer Service number printed on the card, on a recent statement or via information available on their genuine website or app. never use details provided in a text message.

If you think you might have responded to a text message scam and provided your bank account details, contact your bank fraud department immediately.

Top of page

Business Compliance has issued a warning after a report from the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre.

A distraught client had reported receiving several telephone calls and text messages claiming they were in trouble, as their National Insurance number had been ‘stolen’.  

The victim of this scam call was then asked to deposit £300 into a bank account to "resolve" the issue and prevent further action being taken, but thankfully, took advice first.

Business Compliance advise not to engage with any telephone cold callers or provide anyone with your personal details, including your bank or credit card information.

If you have been targeted, email phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and include the date and content of the call, and the phone number used.

Top of page

Business Compliance have had a report from the Westward Heath area of a telephone cold call offering a pendant personal alarm with a monthly fee of £39.99.

The call came from a male by the name of ‘Christian’ from The Medical Alert Centre.

After a minute or two, it was realised that this was a recorded message with appropriate gaps for responses.

The resident decided to continue listening, and the call was then passed over to a ‘real person’ who gave his name as ‘John’.

At this stage, the resident requested their details to be removed from the company database, but the conversation went nowhere.

The formal complaint process was then asked for, and unfortunately the response from ‘John' was not something that can be printed here.

Needless to say, this was a distressing event for our resident.

We always advise people to be very wary of claims made during telephone cold calls. If you receive this or a similar recorded message call our advice is do not interact with the call and hang up.

Top of page

Business Compliance is aware that scam emails claiming to be from TV Licensing are continuing to circulate, after another report from a Council employee.

Recent examples have included emails claiming that ‘the TV Licence could not be automatically renewed’, or 'something went wrong'.

This one warned that the TV licence couldn’t be automatically renewed because something went wrong with the direct debit payments.

It then urges you to set up a new direct debit by following a link.

Business Compliance advise these emails are not from TV Licensing and any links contained within the message are likely to go to a genuine looking fake version of the TV Licensing website which will attempt to gather your personal and financial details.

The aim of the email is to steal customers bank account and personal details.

Read advice offered by TV Licensing to help spot scam emails.

Top of page