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A resident of Sutton cum Lound and a member of the Neighbourhood Watch has reported that they feel conned following dealings earlier this week, 22^nd June,with a “local” company.

Our Member visited on line accreditation site Bark.com to find a local gardener. The Company that was recommended by Bark.com was Mick’s Landscaping, our Member opted to use Mick’s Landscaping. Bark.com then contacted Mick’s Landscaping who phoned our Member. “Michael” came along to undertake the work, grass cutting and weeding.

Taking 4 hours to cut grass in the morning Michael who had another man with him, asked to be paid before they went for lunch, he asked for, and was paid £190.00 in cash, £160 for the work plus seemingly as an afterthought, £30 for VAT. Our Member requested a receipt and Michael agreed to email one, he has not.

Michael said he would be back after lunch, he was not. During the morning Michael had put ladders up against the Members property and advised that there was a broken tile that he could fix. He was not asked to check the roof, nor was he given permission to place ladders against the property. Our Member declined the offer to fix the broken tile.

Our Member tried to contact Michael (on his mobile) using a landline number that was used to make contact with him initially, not picked up. Our Member then used a mobile number, not used previously, that call was picked up! Michael said that he had been called away to another job and that he would return. To date he has not.

Our Member has since posted on Bark.com registering dissatisfaction that the work had not been completed and spoke to them, Bark.com offered commiseration.

 

Our Member used an accreditation site to obtain the contact details of what our Member took to be a bona fide contractor with proven credentials. Rather worryingly the experience suggests that the recommendation, in this case and maybe others, was not justified.

So what might we glean from this? That not all traders recommended by accreditation sites are properly vetted. That it is better to obtain a written quotation prior to agreement being struck that describes the services offered and price to be paid. That payment for small jobs should be made when the customer is satisfied and on completion and preferably by cheque.

Easy to be wise after the event however. We probably all place rather more credence on recommendations made from accreditation sites than we ought to. Might recommendations from friends and relatives be a better bet?

We will be contacting Trading Standards to report our Members experience with this contractor and accreditation site.

Interestingly on the 22^nd June a man peddling gardening services made an unsolicited visit to my property (Chair). Offering gardening services and also offering to jet wash our drive, “I’m already working in the area” he said.

Both offers were refused. Coincidence, probably not, be careful!

A member of the Neighbourhood Watch has received a text message ostensibly from mobile phone provider EE suggesting that a mobile account had been locked and that action was required to unlock it.

The member is an EE customer but transacts on a pay as you go basis, so was surprised to read that there was a problem with an account. The text requested that either a telephone call to 07538972882 or that a visit to web site:”https://bit.ly/eeaccounts.co…..” was required. Our member realised that this was likely a scam so rang EE directly using an established contact number. EE confirmed that this was indeed a scam and advised that the text should be deleted forthwith and that EE would pursue the matter. Our member promptly deleted the text but was keen to share the experience with you.

You are advised not to respond to requests of the nature reported by our member. If in doubt always refer back to your provider on an established trustworthy telephone number or perhaps email address, one that you have used before or that is known to be authentic.

Another Member reports an attempt to scam money from a fake request to renew a television licence. Interesting that the scammers got the Members email provider correct, either they were in the know or guessed at it, it is after all BT the biggest provider! Our thanks for sharing, and in our Member’s own words the following report:

The latest scam involves TV licensing and in particular for those who are over 75 who will have to pay for their license soon.

An official looking email arrived this morning warning that I would have to pay for my license as from 25^th May and to press a link to make this task easier.

I smelled a rat since my current ‘free’ license does not expire until 31^st May and in any event the document looked a bit ‘fishy’ despite the fact that they had gone to great lengths to make it look genuine.

Anyway, I made contact with the TV licensing people to find out that that in any event the end of the free license had been extended for everyone who qualified until the end of July and that they will be contacting everyone by post in due course to explain this.

Since I suspect that this village contains more than a few people who might be affected by this scam I thought that I should bring it to the NW’s attention.

We have seen these scams  before but this particular version of the scam was good enough to even fool one of our more internet savvy members. Our member has recently celebrated a 75th birthday and was aware of the concession for free licences for the +75 age group. Thinking that this was part of the expected communication from TV Licensing to advise of the concession our member responded to the first email in the string below providing account numbers etc. Some subsequent quick thinking on noticing a couple of spelling mistakes in the email and our member contacted the bank. A withdrawal of an initial £10.00 had already been made from the members bank account presumably a “proving” transaction, which the bank agreed to reimburse and to block the account against further withdrawals. A close call and one that should be a lesson to us all, whether of an age or not! The emails and link addresses appear to be quite authentic at first sight. However those link addresses on the email, such as ‘www.tvlicensing.co.uk’ are fronts to live links to the scammers website: ‘http://gallagnr.com’. No doubt that website also looks pretty much as you might expect for a look alike TV Licensing website, I have not tried it, and nor should you!

Nottinghamshire Trading Standards have received reports that a solar panel company may be telephone cold calling residents in Nottinghamshire and the surrounding areas.

Upon making the cold call the company is asking to inspect the residents existing solar panels / energy saving systems as they are stating they have concerns their existing systems are unsafe and they are quoting prices into the thousands for those repairs.

Nottinghamshire Trading Standards advise against employing someone who has cold called you at your door or over the phone. We also advise that you do not let them in your home and to arrange any inspections at a time that is convenient to you and to exercise caution if you do.

We always advise that you get at least 3 quotes from different companies before you agree to any works being done. We would also advise that you contact the company who installed your current system if you should have any concerns.

Remember to always check ID and to check that ID with the employer or the person who has cold called you or to verify there name with company if they telephoned you. Always try and find a number to call that company yourself such as from online and do not rely on the number the person at your door or over the phone provides you with in case there are acting illegitimately.

If you have been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, report it to Action Fraud via their website Actionfraud.police.uk, or by calling them on 0300 123 2040.

You can also report a trader to Trading Standards or to obtain consumer advice by contacting the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 11 33.