By Elderly Scunthorpe man conned out of thousands
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of defrauding an elderly man out of thousands of pounds following an incident in Scunthorpe.
Humberside Police were made aware of the offence after the bank informed them that number of suspicious withdrawals had been made from the victims account.
It was reported that two men completed some gutter cleaning work for the man which they charged him £5,000 in cash for.
They later pressurised the man to withdraw a further £3,000 for de-weeding.
Thankfully this second amount was not handed over.
Two men were subsequently arrested on High Street, Scunthorpe yesterday, Monday 15 March, on suspicion of fraud by false representation.
Both men have been placed on conditional bail whilst the investigation continues.
This follows a similar incident where an ambulance crew prevented another elderly person from falling victim to rogue traders.
The patient had mentioned in passing that some people had knocked on his door the day before, claiming to be trained tradesmen who wanted to have a look at his roof.
Yvette Ray said:
“The patient told us that they went upstairs and after claiming to have conducted some checks, they said they needed a sum of £9,000 to buy some new roof timbers but they needed the money upfront before coming back with the supplies.
“I went outside to have a look at the man’s roof and it looked in good condition to me.”
“My heart was just breaking for him in that moment as he was starting to panic that he was going to have all his money taken out of his account.
“We could tell that this man was very vulnerable based on his age and the fact that he was living alone, and I believe this is why he was targeted.”
Once the crew established that their patient had supplied the cold-callers with a cheque, and that his chequebook and bank cards were missing.
Yvette immediately rang the bank to have them all cancelled.
If you are approached by someone you believe to be a rogue trader, call Humberside Police via the non-emergency number 101 or call 999 if you feel in danger.
To find out more about how to protect yourself or others from door step sellers and rogue traders, click here.
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