Kent County Council have issued two alerts of fraudulent activity:
Bogus Police and Trading Standards Officers
Kent Trading Standards and Kent Police have received reports of criminals contacting residents by phone or in person claiming to be a Police or Trading Standards Officer. They will often refer to some previous poor work that might have been carried out and falsely claim the people involved have been arrested or are already in court.They insist the resident pays money which will be reimbursed after the court hearing.
The Police, Trading Standards, or the Court, would never ask for money – under any circumstances.
This type of fraudulent activity is on the rise so please report calls or visits to Kent Police. Residents that have previously been victims of doorstep crime are particularly at risk so please warn neighbours, friends and/or relatives if you think they may be targeted.
Report to Kent Police on 101 or at your local Police station.
Report it to Kent Police online
www.kent.police.uk/services/report-online/kent-police-online-reporting/
Criminals taking advantage of the bad weather
Doorstep criminals will take advantage of the current bad weather. Anyone calling at your home offering to do work on your roof, guttering, driveway, or inside your property, should be treated with caution.
Accepting work from a doorstep criminal can result in paying much more than you intended for very poor, unnecessary and sometimes dangerous work.
If you require work done to your home get at least three quotes and never give a doorstep caller cash.
For a list of Kent County Council approved traders
- visit Checkatrade or
www.checkatrade.com/kent/ - phone 0333 0146 190.
Please look out for neighbours and report any suspicious doorstep criminals to us.
Report it
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/
For advice and to report issues to KCC Trading Standards contact
Citizens Advice consumer service
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/ or
phone 03454 04 05 06
Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Kent County Council Public Protection 01 March 2018