Rogue traders leave residents 'feeling vulnerable'

Doorbell camera footage captured this man offering repairs to the roof for £20

There are warnings from local authorities after a rise in rogue traders operating in an area of a city.

It comes six months after BBC South spoke to victims in Portsmouth, who had been left feeling ashamed, vulnerable and in some cases thousands of pounds out of pocket.

There had been a spike in fraud-related door-to-door sales and bogus tradesmen in the area, according to Action Fraud.

Now, more victims from the same North End neighbourhood of the city have come forward who believe they have been scammed by one of the same men.

Sue Wilkinson said the experience left her "feeling vulnerable now"

During that original investigation, we heard about a rogue roofer operating in North End who we believe goes by several names, one of which is Tim.

And while speaking to residents last month, Sue Wilkinson told us she had a close call with a man calling himself Tim who said she needed roofing work completed.

He invited himself into Mrs Wilkinson's house and sat down with her in her living room where he told her the work she needed would cost £650, but with the extra work would actually be £1,260.

"I said no way can I pay that", Mrs Wilkinson said.

Residents believe the man calling himself Tim is the same man seen here on three separate occasions

Tim told her they can settle on £960 if she could pay him within three hours.

Mrs Wilkinson rang her son to ask him what he thought and said it sounded genuine.

He rang Tim to say he would pay him on Friday via bank transfer to which Tim replied, "no way, within three hours".

Her son then told Tim to "go away".

"He was so genuine, because he said he knew Paul next door. But Paul doesn't know him, Paul has no idea of the name [Tim]," Mrs Wilkinson said.

"It just makes me feel vulnerable now."

A man living on the same street as Mrs Wilkinson, who didn't want to be identified, told us he believed the same man came to his house last November and he captured footage of him on CCTV.

He said he saw images of him in our report in March and again on Facebook shortly after Mrs Wilkson's encounter with him.

When we showed her the video she said she thought it was the same person: "Yes definitely yes; his hair and the way he's speaking.

"What he's saying is exactly what Tim, as he was called, was telling me what was wrong with my gully."

Mark Cornish said the person who scammed his mother "sounded really quite convincing"

We also spoke to another man who said his mother had recently been scammed in the same neighbourhood. And that person had a very familiar sales technique.

Mark Cornish received a phone call from the man on his mother's phone asking if he could carry out roofing work on her property.

"He sounded really quite convincing," Mr Cornish said.

"Then I think he spoke to my brother as well but he said 'whatever happens you're gonna have to wait till three o'clock when I get home from work'."

Except he didn't wait.

The man told Mr Cornish's mother her son had given the go ahead for the work to be done and she handed over £2,400, which was all the money she had.

He left the property immediately saying he'd be back in five minutes, but never returned.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said it had received a report of a rogue-trader related fraud incident having taken place in North End on 23 July.

"This matter has not been closed and is currently under investigation," it added.

We also sent the CCTV to Mr Cornish.

He told us his mother said it looked similar to the man that came to her house and Mr Cornish said it "definitely" sounded like the man he spoke to over the phone.

We have been unable to independently verify if the man who spoke to Mr Cornish has any connection with the man in the CCTV footage.

The BBC's attempts to contact Tim using the various contacts he left with residents have so-far been unsuccessful.

During our investigation we were sent another video captured on a doorbell camera.

It shows a different man asking an elderly woman if she could hear birds chirping from her roof and he offers to carry out a repair for £20.

Chris Jeffries installed the camera on his mother-in-law's property following a series of incidents he described as "targeted" and believes this man was trying to extract money from her.

Chris Jefferies said he doesn't know how rogue traders sleep at night

"The way he was talking to her I thought was really bad - 'can you hear the birdies' - talking to her like she's a three-year-old."

Mr Jefferies said he spoke to the man via the doorbell camera and told him he was just around the corner and "better not be there when I arrive".

"And that's when he picked the ladder up and hammered it off up the road," he added.

"If he'd been a proper trader he would have engaged with me and said 'look this is legitimate I can wait here if you want and show you what needs to be done'.

"I think it's disgusting I really do. I don't know how they sleep at night I really don't."

BBC reporter Jamie Morris has been speaking to Trading Standards about rogue traders

We have been unable to confirm whether the man in the second video is a legitimate trader or not.

But Katherine Hart, Lead in Door Step Crime for Trading Standards, told us she believes these are textbook rogue trader tactics.

"He reckons he can just repair it for £20 with a bit of concrete, he's not even been on the roof yet," she said.

"All of that to me is the hallmarks of somebody that is going to use coercive tactics and probably exploit her for a lot more money than £20."

During our investigations residents identified two men as suspected rogue traders operating in North End.

The man in doorbell footage sent by Mr Jeffries left no contact details and the BBC has been unable to track him down.

The man identifying as Tim left various numbers with residents, we've tried them all, and have had no response.

Portsmouth City Council and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary issued a joint warning urging Portsmouth residents to be extra vigilant following a rise in scams and rogue trading in the area.

They said common services offered by rogue traders can include general building work, roofing, repairs, and maintenance work.

"They will often offer to do minor repair work first before driving up the cost or could apply pressure to pay for the work upfront," the statement said.

For many of the victims we have spoken to this year that will sound only too familiar.