Task force to help hundreds of potential rogue trader victims
A special task force will aim to reach vulnerable people in a Black Country borough before they are targeted by rogue traders.
Hundreds of potential victims have been identified, with Dudley Council taking action to try and ensure they do not become the next targets.
Bosses have become so concerned about the problem they are setting up a ‘scams unit’.
They are desperate to gain control of the issue after it was revealed one elderly person was targeted every day on average last year.
The council insists it is committed to ridding the streets of heartless crooks who have been fleecing elderly residents on a regular basis.
Experts will aim to reach out to elderly and vulnerable residents to warn them what they should look out for.
The work will be part of a new task force which will aim to put a stop to the practice.
More than £250,000 will be invested over the next three years, with three new posts to be created to specifically focus on rogue traders and protecting potential victims.
The money will come from the authority’s Improved Better Care Fund. Last month, it was revealed 369 complaints were made in Dudley about rogue traders in 2016, with many more victims who haven’t come forward thought to be out there.
Councillor Peter Miller, trading standards boss at Dudley Council, said: “We are determined to do everything we possibly can to make Dudley a no-go area for those who want to go out and scam people and to protect residents. We are going to be employing someone who is very experienced.
“These people need stopping and when they are caught they need severe sentences to make sure people know it’s not acceptable.
“It is also about protecting small, decent traders who work hard to earn a living and do everything right and above board.”
The increased focus on fraudsters comes after Veronica Robinson was jailed for five and a half years in April for conning a 93-year-old blind man out of £250,000.
And, the Express & Star reported how unqualified roofer Geoffrey Whitehouse was made to pay £9,300 for tricking two victims into thinking he was running a legitimate business before carrying out work to a ‘ridiculously poor standard’.
