Imagine losing all of your life savings. This happened to a 91-year-old who was conned by rogue traders.
Allan, from Hornsea, East Yorkshire, was visited by builders after damage to his home caused Storm Darragh in December.
He thought some fixes would be carried out because of minor damage, but instead builders replaced all of his tiles on the roof.
He was handed a £31,630 bill – his entire life savings.
A quote and invoice seen by the BBC show that he paid this sum in full.
Details of the firm on this invoice appear to match up with a company that was dissolved in 2022 but has not been named for Allan’s safety.
Allan can’t remember if the builders contacted him by cold call, or if he contacted them first.
He said: ‘A ladder appeared, three people appeared and started stripping the roof, so I thought well they know what they are doing, and bit by bit all the slates disappeared.
‘They were put on the back of a wagon, and then they drove away with them and came back and started putting new slabs on the roof, just like that.
‘I think he knew how much money I had because I had a bank statement in there [the next room].’
When his family tried to call the builders there was no response.
The scaffolding was left on his home for two months until another builder took it off.
Scenarios like these are all too common for Dr Tim Day, lead officer at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI).
He talked about the financial and mental toll scams like this can have on individuals and told Metro: ‘Research shows that older people will literally die or end up in care because of fraud like this.
‘Even when elderly people’s life savings have been taken away, criminals will still target them.
‘Retirement is when an individual is most vulnerable to being targeted.
‘It is difficult to say whether the numbers are increasing because a lot of elderly people do not report a scam because they don’t realise it is happening in the first place.
‘There’s also the element of self blame and shame attached to it as well.’
Tim says that 95% of his caseload is the type of scam that Allan was victim of.
Allan tried to contact his insurers NatWest but they could not cover any of the work because they had not signed off on it.
A spokesperson for NatWest said: ‘We encourage any customer to contact NatWest Home Insurance prior to agreeing for any repair work to be completed so we can advise on their claim and validate any work that needs to be carried out.’
NatWest added that it is working with Allan to settle his claim accordingly with any work that was needed to be carried out.
Tim added that the identity of a fraud victim is broadening as criminal networks set up false trading platforms.
‘More of us are vulnerable to this type of fraud because of this,’ he added.
‘Not one thing will help crack this. Resources are an issue for us and we don’t have the power to make an arrest.
‘We propose a compulsory national licensing scheme to make traders more accountable.’
But the government says there is no clear evidence that a licencing scheme would improve standards.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: ‘We are sorry to hear of what Allan has been through and are committed to improving standards of service and ensuring people are protected from rogue traders, including in the construction industry.
‘While there is no clear evidence that a licencing scheme would improve standards, we support the TrustMark scheme helping consumers find competent traders and providing redress if work does not meet those standards.
‘Local authorities will also have new powers from April to apply for tougher fines against unscrupulous businesses who rip off consumers.’
Humberside Police confirmed it is investigating and Detective Inspector Mark Hawley said: ‘Those who choose to defraud and carry out such unscrupulous crimes against elderly and vulnerable people are a disgrace to our society.
‘In this case, at first it was thought to potentially be a civil matter over the cost but was referred to the national reporting centre for fraud and Cyber Crime Acton Fraud.
‘We have since carried out further enquiries and believe there is a criminal element to this case, in which we are fully investigating and looking at a number of lines of enquiry.
‘I would always encourage anyone who is suspicious that they, or someone they know, may be a victim of fraud to talk to someone about it.’
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