Scam gardening services offered
Beware cold callers offering garden
services knocking on doors in the West
Lancashire area. In one incident the
elderly householder agreed to the
traders, described as two males in their
20’s, both with dark hair, tidying up the
garden and taking away some cuttings.
The traders were only there 10 to 15
minutes, did very little work and did not
take the cuttings away, took £500 from
the householder and tried to bully them
into giving a further £700.

In another incident in the Chorley area, a
resident agreed to cold callers pruning a
medium sized a tree. The householder
agreed as she initially believed she had
used the trader before, but this was not
the case. The traders charged nearly
£1000 for the work which was very
poorly done. The following day they
returned trying to get further work agreed
to, luckily the householder refused.
Bogus fencing work
A Hyndburn resident looking for some
fencing work to be carried out took the
recommendation of a friend of a friend.
The fencer came to look at the job and
asked for £500 up front for materials
which was provided in cash, but did not
return. The householder was provided
with no paperwork and had no address
details to contact the trader.
Always do your own research before
agreeing to work. Be wary if traders ask
for money upfront. Remember, if you
agree there and then in your own home
the trader should give you paperwork
informing you of your 14 day right to
cancel, which should also include a business address.

If you are struggling
to find a known local tradesman, The
Safetrader scheme can help you find
a trader in your area, contact 0303 333
1111 or go to www.safetrader.org.uk.
Trading Standards advice is to always
say no to cold callers.

Scam parking penalty notice text.
Beware receiving a text claiming that
you’ve been issued a parking penalty
notice (PCN). The text tells you that you
must pay a £20 parking fine and says
that this is your final notice. The text
uses a spoofed mobile number and
email address. It goes on to scare the
recipient by claiming that legal action
could be taken against you if you don’t
pay and includes a malicious link to
follow to make the payment.

TV Licence scam
Genuine emails from the TV Licencing
organisation will be sent from either
donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk or
donotreply@spp.tvlicensing.co.uk. Do
not trust any emails that look suspicious
or unusual. Hover over the email
address bar, sometimes a scam address
can be hidden, and check what address
appears between the < > symbols.
Report scam emails by forwarding
them to report@phishing.gov.uk.

Report scam texts by forwarding to
7726.

Contact the Trading Standards
Service via the Citizens Advice
consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133