Bogus trader scam left Battisford man trusting nobody

Andrew Benjamin says a bogus tradesman running a sophisticated scheme conned him out of more than £10,000

Andrew Benjamin had dreamed of building his own house but it turned into a nightmare after he was scammed out of more than £10,000 by a bogus tradesman.

New figures acquired by the BBC show across the East of England reports of bogus traders have increased nearly 20% between 2019 and 2022, higher than the average of 17% across the UK.

Mr Benjamin, 62, said the experience had left him unable to trust anyone.

A government spokesman said it is "cracking down" on scammers.

Police forces in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Northamptonshire referred 1,626 incidents to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime between November 2019 and October 2022.

There were 14,707 cases referred across the UK during the same period.

Mr Benjamin, who lives in the Suffolk village of Battisford, near Stowmarket, spent months researching and building a relationship with a man purporting to sell windows and doors.

But the tradesman then conned him out of £10,000 for a deposit on products that were never delivered.

When he tried to get in touch with the man months later, he had "disappeared from the face of the earth", Mr Benjamin said.

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Mr Benjamin felt he had done everything right by checking reviews, researching the company and speaking to previous clients. He now realises it was all part of an elaborate scam.

He said prior to the experience he considered himself "fairly street wise".

"You feel sick, an idiot, angry and of course there's not much you can do about it. "

"We did everything we could to try and trace them but it's a black hole. We are going through the torturous route to claim our money back through the scam scheme through our bank."

Reports of rogue tradesman have increased between 2019 and 2022

Mr Benjamin said it has left him feeling unable to trust people.

He now spends six days a week working on the building project himself to save money after the heavy financial loss.

He said scams are getting "more sophisticated" making it even harder to be sure tradesmen are legitimate.

"I don't think you can 100% avoid it, these guys are very clever, everywhere you look people are trying to scam you," he said.

Tips to avoid and detect scammers

Action Fraud provide advice on how to protect yourself from fraud

• Ask for identification before letting anyone into your house

• Check credentials, including permanent business address and landline phone number. Scammers use pay-as-you-go mobiles and are often impossible to trace

• Ask questions, request references from previous customers and ask for examples of their work

• Shop around and get multiple quotes to make sure you're not being ripped off

More advice can be found through the BBC Action Line.

A Government spokesperson said: "The Government remains absolutely committed to cracking down on the shameless scammers stealing cash from hard-working families.A fraud strategy will be published shortly to "consider all possible tools" to target fraudsters and protect vulnerable people, the spokesperson said.