Gloucestershire police issue warning to elderly people targeted by rogue traders
Police are issuing a warning about rogue traders following a spate of incidents in Stroud.
Police say vulnerable people are being scammed out of thousands of pounds.
A Rogue Trader is someone who cold calls at a resident’s door, often the elderly, and offers to do work on their home or garden which is either unnecessary or vastly over-priced.
The warnings follows reports of men targeting vulnerable people in the Stroud area by offering to repair driveways or carry out work on their roofs.
Offenders can damage property deliberately in order to obtain money, leave work unfinished and use intimidating behaviour in order to take money.
Police said last Thursday (16/2), an 88 year-old man in Stone was approached by a salesman at his home address who offered to jet-wash the roof of his property.
The elderly man agreed to the work and was charged £4600.
It is believed more residents on the same street were also targeted by the conman and had also been charged thousands of pounds for having their roofs cleaned.
Stroud Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Paul Cruise said: “Rogue traders are often opportunistic and unscrupulous, targeting the most vulnerable people in our communities for profit.
“They can be very convincing and may appear to be genuine tradespeople, so we would urge people to do their research before employing a person or company to do any work for you.
“Rogue traders will often demand cash up front, won’t use any paperwork, and will often create new ‘problems’ which need fixing to get more money.
“Crimes like these can have a huge impact on victims so if you know or live near to any vulnerable or elderly residents, please look out for them and contact police immediately if you think they are being targeted.”
“Investigations into these incidents are ongoing and anyone who witnesses behaviour which they believe is suspicious, is asked to call 999 straight away with as much information as you can such as descriptions of the individuals and their vehicles."