'Ruthless' gang tried to rip off customers by £208k in roofing scam

ELDERLY AND DISABLED WERE TARGETED FOR WORK THAT WAS NOT ALWAYS NEEDED

- By SAMUEL KALANTZIS

A GROUP of fraudsters attempted to charge victims more than £208,000 for “unnecessary and overpriced” roofing work.

An investigation into an organised crime group was led by the National Trading Standards regional investigations team in the East Midlands, hosted by Nottinghamshire County Council.

The investigation found that between November 2019 and March 2020, the conmen targeted vulnerable, often elderly or disabled, residents in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Staffordshire, cold calling them and claiming that work was needed on their properties to repair small roofing problems, that in some cases did not even exist, the court heard.

Once the gang had identified their victims, they reportedly pressured them into agreeing to further work, sometimes by deliberately damaging the property, often the roof, leaving it insecure and vulnerable to the weather.

Victims of the scams collectively lost more than £133,000.

The county council said the fraudsters concealed their identities by using false names, addresses, different company identities and telephone numbers.