Rogue Trader Week launches drop-in session

City of York Council’s Trading Standards team has been working with North Yorkshire Police in a week of activity aimed at preventing ‘crime in the home’.

This type of crime includes ‘doorstep crime’, where rogue traders and bogus traders who cold-call homes, offering to carry out unwanted or unnecessary work at grossly inflated prices. They will often offer to do a low-cost job such as repair a roof tile or fix a gutter before supposedly discovering other problems which will cost hundreds, even many thousands to fix. They sometimes use pressure selling techniques and have even been known to drive their victims to the bank for payment.

As part of the week’s activities, Trading Standards Officers will be holding a drop-in session at the Parliament Street branch of HSBC on Friday 20 January (10am-3pm). The team will be offering information and advice to York’s residents on how to identify scams on the doorstep and stay safe in the home.

The drop-in session will be open to everyone and people do not need to be HSBC customers to attend.

Councillor Craghill, Executive Member for Housing and Safer Neighbourhoods, said: 

“We welcome the police dedicating valuable time and resources to back our trading standards experts in Rogue Trader week. Our Trading Standards Officers regularly receive reports of people cold calling residents to sell goods and services. In some cases, we know residents have felt pressurised into parting with large sums of money for unnecessary and poor-quality products. It is often our most vulnerable residents who are targeted in this way.

"The drop-in session offers an opportunity for residents to find out more about the warning signs they should look out for, tips and advice on what to do and information on how to report a scam.

“We know that crimes of this nature are under-reported, and so we urge anyone with concerns or information to get in touch. Trading Standards can be contacted via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.”

Paul Marshall, Network Manager at HSBC UK York, said:

“HSBC UK’s York branch is proud to be supporting Rogue Traders Week by hosting a drop-in session with Trading Standards Officers on Friday 20 January.

“Everyone is welcome to attend the event, not just our customers, offering the local community the opportunity to learn more about the risks of scams and how to protect themselves and their loved ones.”

For more information on Trading Standards, visit: https://www.york.gov.uk/TradingStandards.