Episode 3 Doorstep Crime 999

There's one issue you've told us really winds you up.

They are despicable, they're picking on the most vulnerable in society.

It's a crime that's getting worse and worse!

They were so charming and convincing that I'm afraid I believed them.

And it's often the most vulnerable who are targeted.

I wouldn't wish it on anybody else,

it's an awful thing to go through.

What am I talking about?

Crimes that takes place on our very own doorsteps.

It might be cold-calling conmen to rip-off rogue traders,

we're united against them.

I feel strongly that this type of crime should be stamped out.

I don't open the door in the evening after a certain time.

If people think they've been targeted,

they should ring up Trading Standards and report it.

But we're here with one aim.

To stop cold-calling conmen from striking at our homes

and, indeed, ripping us off!

We've been out with ground-breaking Police

and Trading Standards teams all over the country. And with your help,

we're campaigning to show doorstep con artists the door!

Today, the incredible footage captured by CCTV cameras which one man used

to help his brave dad fight back against the crooks.

Plus we expose the hard doorstep sales techniques used to sell this consumer a cleaner -

wait for it - a cleaner he couldn't even use.

You don't let people like that get ripped off, not your friends. It's not right.

SIRENS WAIL And I love this!

The boys in blue let us in on their latest scheme

to swoop on rogue traders and doorstep criminals.

These conmen have no regard whatsoever for their victims.

Hello, we've been very busy reading your e-mails and letters.

Let's face it, who wants to find a criminal on the doorstep? Nobody.

Now, Dee Sellars and John Blanch were strong on that point,

and John goes on to say that people shouldn't be afraid to call for help.

There are lots of hard-working police and Trading Standards officers trying to stop these con men.

We've been to Essex to see just how tough a stance they've been taking!

Thurrock, a busy town nestled on the north side of the Dartford Crossing,

which is used by over 40 million vehicles every year.

With so many people passing through the area,

it's not surprising that some locals have been targeted by doorstep criminals,

as Terry Everett of Thurrock Council Trading Standards knows all too well.

From my point of view,

these conmen have no regard whatsoever for their victims.

All they're interested in

is taking money, earning a fast buck, and clearing off

and remaining anonymous.

In my book, that's not on, and we will do everything

we can to make sure it doesn't happen in Thurrock.

One of the ways in which the authorities are fighting back is through Operation Mermaid,

a huge multi-agency crackdown

on lawbreakers who think they can escape justice.

Using number plate recognition technology to target

trade vehicles and other suspect drivers,

the police will stop and check the details of over 100 vehicles today.

We do want today to see many of what we've classed rogue trader vehicles,

to come in. In particular, Transit vans,

unmarked Transit vans, any vehicles involved in garden clearance...

Operation Mermaid is run at least twice a week at different locations

throughout Essex and has proved to be a crucial source of information

for the police and Trading Standards, as Lucy Magill of Thurrock Council explains.

I think today will be successful if we manage to prevent

any rogue traders from operating illegally.

It may be by giving them advice now that they may not be aware of,

or making it clear that we know what they're up to in our area.

While today's operation could provide fresh intelligence on any doorstep criminals

new to the area, there's one ongoing investigation

in particular that Terry is hoping for a breakthrough with.

We've had a recent case

'where two individuals who have tried to...

'extract £7,000 from an elderly couple'

for work that was not warranted at all.

So who knows what a day like this will bring forth.

We may well get those individuals or identify those individuals.

Time will tell whether Operation Mermaid throws up any leads

that could help apprehend these unscrupulous doorstep crooks.

SIREN WAILS

I think you'll agree - decisive action there.

And we'll check up on Operation Mermaid a little later.

Now, have a look at this interesting video.

'Hello. I'm Bob from Middlesex.'

My dad had a real problem with a whole bunch of dubious tradesmen,

conmen, in the local area.

It devastated him and our family,

and I can't emphasise enough the effect that it had on him.

And we'll find out later how Bob tackled those cold callers.

But first, a story from Lincolnshire about another community

fighting back against doorstep crime,

after one local had an unexpected visit.

Take a look at this prize draw raffle ticket.

It promises so much, doesn't it?

But now look at the notes scribbled on the counterfoil -

"Nice house, nice garden",

or "SOS Single". Now, you don't expect people giving out tickets

to be making notes about you or the state of your house when they come calling,

but that's exactly what Elite Systems Ltd of Lincolnshire did,

in what Trading Standards officer Kirsty Toyne discovered was a devious sales strategy.

As a Trading Standards officer,

I'd never come across a company operating this way.

They were writing down details, such as, did the house look nice, the age of the consumer.

I found that to be totally underhand.

Elite Systems, who are not to be confused with other reputable companies

of a similar name, worked by collating private information about consumers

without their consent.

But they had even more sinister plans in mind

for their would-be "prize winners", who included 90 year-old widower

Arthur Bone, who was subjected to an appalling sales attack.

He just sort of gave me a counterfoil,

and it must have been about this prize offer.

'And he came back soon after that and told me I hadn't won the prize.'

Arthur may not have won the prize,

but he was offered a free carpet clean.

Elite Systems were official retailers of carpet cleaners

manufactured by a legitimate company,

but the manufacturer had absolutely no connection to this con and no idea

that their product was being sold in such a despicable manner.

In fact, the sales personnel were working to a routine.

The script mentioned that the consumer had won the daily draw.

And it was apparent from our investigation that there was no such thing as a daily draw.

Anybody who met the criteria got a call offering a free carpet clean.

Arthur received exactly the same offer.

And with the sales reps so well versed in selling this product,

it meant that he didn't stand a chance.

He came and demonstrated it. He was a very pleasant man

and convinced me it was a very good machine. I fell for it.

But not without putting up a fight.

If it was apparent that they weren't getting anywhere,

they were not getting a sale,

they would telephone the boss at the office

and put the boss on to the consumer.

'He got on the phone, didn't he? He said, "We could get it down from

' "1,300 to 600." I should of guessed then'

that it was a bit of a trick.

I said, "Oh, well, that's good."

He also told me, "Quite a lot of pensioners pay the full price, you know."

'And I think I wrote a cheque for 600.'

That is just shocking!

Like many before him, Arthur had been duped by a hard-selling scam.

Realising he'd been pressurised into purchasing the cleaner, Arthur took the brave decision

to confide in someone. He got in touch with his friends, Shona and Vincent Phillips,

who also clean for him, and know full well that he'd never even be able to use a cleaner

like the one he'd been sold.

He was feeling

very anxious about what he'd done.

And then realising he was never going to use it.

That's when we got the phone call.

I went up, and he was quite distressed about what had happened.

And he just sat there in his chair and said, "What am I going to do?"

As with many elderly victims of doorstep crime,

Arthur was initially reluctant to speak out at about what had happened.

I asked how much he'd paid for it.

He said, "Shona, I can't tell you."

I said, "What do you mean, you can't tell me?" He said,

"Well, this man on the other end of the phone said that

"I wasn't allowed to tell you because it was a good deal." And I said, "No,

"you're talking to me now. You've got to tell me how much it is." And he said, "It was £600, Shona."

I said, "We're not having that. No way can you afford that!"

Arthur was lucky to have such good friends by his side, but Vincent soon discovered

that getting Arthur's money back was easier said than done.

Over a period of just less than a month, I left messages.

"I'd like to speak to the manager." "He's not in." "He may be coming in, he might not be coming in.

"We don't know where he is."

Then this woman started to get really hostile on the end of the phone to me -

on the verge of abusive, really.

I said, "Look, I've had enough of this, I'm going to get Trading Standards involved."

By calling Trading Standards, Vincent and Shona had done

exactly the right thing and taken their first steps towards fighting back.

With the evidence from Arthur's experience at the hands of these aggressive salesmen,

it wasn't long before Trading Standards were mounting a case against Elite Systems.

The prices we found the cleaners being offered for ranged from £2,500 down to £600.

It seemed to us that the initial price being offered to the consumer

would be based on the information that had been noted on the stub of the ticket

regarding the wealth and the age of the consumer.

The underhand tactics used by this company to maximise their profits

were absolutely diabolical, but here comes the good news.

Trading Standards were able to take Elite Systems to court where they were fined over £17,000.

Arthur received a full refund, but this was down to the determined efforts of Vincent and Shona

who persistently fought back against these doorstep criminals.

You don't let people like that get ripped off, not when they're friends.

It's not right. It's not ethical.

Arthur was fortunate to get his money back and has learnt some important lessons from his experience.

Oh, I'll be more on my guard, obviously, if I've got a salesman coming to the door. Yeah.

If you do have vulnerable friends and family, please look out for them.

If you think they may have been subjected to a similar scam such as this,

then please contact Trading Standards or Consumer Direct for further advice.

Still to come, how one man used CCTV to capture video evidence

of rogue traders systematically defrauding his father.

When it comes to doorstep crime, it's always best to call for help as quickly as possible.

That's exactly what's happening in Essex, where an elderly couple have been targeted by rotten con men,

and Trading Standards are racing to their aid.

In a car park just to the side of the Dartford Crossing, Operation Mermaid is underway.

It's a nationwide multi-agency campaign,

which aims to combat criminal activity -

like rogue tradesmen - by stopping and searching commercial vehicles.

Trading Standards officer Terry Everett is on the trail of a pair of doorstep criminals

who recently targeted an elderly couple.

So exactly what happened?

When we first went round to the consumers' house, we saw two elderly residents,

and they were getting very agitated. You could clearly see

that the whole thing had upset them very badly.

The couple had been cold-called by a pair of rogues

who had managed to convince them that their drains needed unblocking

-TERRY:

-They had charged £300 for commencing the work.

They then left them with this ruse,

that they were going away to purchase or hire expensive machinery

which would clear the blockage in the drain

and they had told the couple that this would be £6,700, making 7,000 overall.

£7,000 to unblock a drain and pick up a machine?! A likely story!

The turning point in this case was that both Trading Standards

and the police had been alerted straightaway,

so it was a perfect opportunity to catch these rogues red-handed.

Police Community Support Officer Lisa Plastow was also at the scene.

They agreed to pay the £300,

they believed what these rogue traders said about how they needed to go away and get this machine.

Unfortunately, they believed everything that the rogue traders had told them.

We knew the trader was to return that afternoon

While we were talking and getting a strategy together of how to deal with this,

the trader telephoned the resident.

She wasn't sure what to say.

She's a timid lady. Unfortunately these criminals

realised that something was up and they put the phone down.

That was the last anyone heard or saw of these doorstep criminals.

But Trading Standards and Essex Police aren't letting go.

It's well into the day at Operation Mermaid,

and while there's been no sign of them, there's a chance that these rogues could turn up

as the police continue to stop and search commercial trade vehicles.

I can't wait to see if Operation Mermaid uncovers those cold-calling rogues.

Now, an email has come in from Trevor Kerry.

He says he has a notice on his doorbell which says:

"If you're a caller

"without an appointment,

"don't ring the bell or knock."

Apparently this deters 90% of cold callers, and those who do ring don't usually try a second time!

That's a really good tip, Trevor - so do keep sharing your stories with us.

Earlier, we saw a video of Bob in Middlesex.

I've been to find out how he stopped rogue traders targeting his father.

In the process, I've discovered a whole community making a stand.

THEY KNOCK THE DOOR

This extraordinary footage was captured on surveillance cameras

in the home of 80-year-old Jon Jeffreys. For over eight months,

rogue traders made his life hell, until his son's intervention

led to one of the culprits being brought to justice.

Sadly, it's shocking evidence of the doorstep crime

which Hillingdon Trading Standards are all too aware of.

They might look at a property, it might be a little bit dilapidated.

The garden might be overgrown. There might be handrails

by the front door. All these could be indications that an elderly person lives there.

What I found really heart-warming

is that groups of locals are fighting back against these cold-calling con men

but first I'm going to meet Jon's son, Bob, to get the background details.

As I understand it, your dad has lost a bit of independence in recent years, so what is that exactly?

For the past six or seven years, Dad's memory's -

he's getting old, he's 83, 84 - starting to go,

his short-term memory. Long-term memory's fine.

Because of his father's condition, Bob goes round to the house as often as he can,

and it was on one of these visits, that he noticed something wasn't quite right.

'I drove round the corner,'

and saw a very pink roof. I thought, "What has happened there?"

It had been jet-washed. It doesn't need jet-washing,

there's no need - it's purely aesthetic.

I had a chat with Dad and he said, "Oh, yeah, I've had the roof jet-washed."

I had a look. It had been done very badly. So after that,

I made sure Dad had my telephone number so if called just to call me.

PHONE RINGS

Sure enough, it wasn't long before Bob received a call from Jon.

But nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to hear.

'The phone call was Dad phoning up,'

saying, "I've got someone I need you to talk to.

I spoke to this guy, very aggressive manner on the phone, "Your dad owes me a shed load of money."

How much exactly?

There was a call for £14,000.

-Fourteen grand?!

-One was that he was doing some works and he needed some money as an advance payment.

-So how much do you reckon had been paid out?

-The best part of £5,000.

It transpired that for months,

criminals and con men had been systematically targeting Jon, but because of his memory loss,

it was almost impossible to establish exactly what had been going on.

The police put Bob in touch with Brian Walters,

a former police officer turned surveillance vigilante, who uses CCTV

to fight neighbourhood crime through a local community group.

So how would you describe the scheme and exactly what you do?

We formed HRAC, Hillingdon Residents against Crime,

to look at high technology, CCTV in particular,

to address a crime problem.

By the very nature of the victims,

they suffer from all sorts of hearing problems, mental problems...

And in Jon's case, memory problems.

Yes, indeed. A very bright man but he couldn't remember what had happened half an hour ago.

So, yes, it's a challenge. You've got to put evidence before the court.

If he can't remember what the bloke looked like, or what happened half an hour ago,

it's very difficult to bring a prosecution.

It's wonderful to be able to meet people like Brian who are working so hard

to help people in the community. His work is proving to be a tremendous success

and it's thanks his advice on installing cameras that Bob was able to take real steps

to stop his dad being ripped off in the future.

Presumably the cameras are outside now, are they?

Yeah. The one on here is sound and vision.

You can see it on the TV screen.

-How many cameras have you put outside?

-There's two outside.

-There's four in total.

-The whole of the front is covered?

-The whole thing.

With everything set up, it was just a matter of waiting and it didn't take long

for the greedy, opportunistic thieves to darken Jon's doorway yet again.

This time it was Steven Ball from Ace Drains -

not to be confused with reputable companies of a similar name.

Jon had already paid him £300 for work supposedly carried out

on the drains, but on the 12th July 2010,

Ball was seeking a second payment and wasn't prepared to take no for an answer.

So were you quite shocked and surprised about just how pressurising these people can be?

The camera footage, he was there for 30, 35, 40...

-35 minutes I think it is.

-So a long time?

-A long time just banging away.

And my dad's holding his ground, saying, "No, no, no. I don't want them.

"Please go away," and words to that effect. The chap goes

and comes straight back again. It's just non-stop.

This is truly despicable behaviour but it's about to get worse.

-How did you feel about the vulnerability of your dad?

-Very strong emotions.

You look at these guys and you think... It's... "You really are the bottom of the pile."

I completely agree with Bob, and as Trading Standards officer Martin King

discovered, this doorstep criminal really is the lowest of the low.

We employed an expert surveyor. He said no work had been done.

And Mr Ball tried to obtain money from Mr Jeffreys for cleaning and repairing the drains -

work he'd clearly not done.

Thanks to the footage captured by Brian's cameras,

Steven Ball was given a suspended prison sentence,

100 hours community service,

ordered to pay £3,000 in costs and fitted with an electronic tag.

Brian's CCTV technology is clearly making a real difference

to tackling neighbourhood crime in Hillingdon, and has had a profound effect

on Jon's life, now that he's escaped the continual harassment of rogue traders banging on his door.

-So do you like the idea, Jon, of having that television in your sitting room.

-Oh, it's a good idea.

-I often watch that instead of television.

-GLORIA LAUGHS

-I see the cars going by.

-You think it's better than television?

What does that say about all of us? So what is the lesson learned in this case?

You've got to be aware that there are people in life who will con you if they can,

and you don't take everything that anybody says to you, unless you know them well,

you don't take it for granted.

Many thanks to Bob and Jon for that tremendous story

of a community that's no longer prepared to tolerate doorstep crime.

Now, Essex Police and Trading Standards are still working hard in Essex

on Operation Mermaid, speaking to tradesmen passing through the county.

So let's see whether there's been any joy in rounding up the two con men

who made life a misery for that elderly couple.

The Operation's going well. Over 120 vehicles have been stopped and checked,

but despite all this technology and manpower,

so far Trading Standards officer Terry Everett

hasn't been able to track down the two rogues who attempted to take £7,000 from an elderly couple

just to clean their drains.

My thoughts on these con men

are that they have no regard whatsoever for their victims.

They're just interested in obtaining money and getting as much as they can for doing nothing.

As for the old couple whose doorstep was darkened by the con men,

there is support and hope. They receive frequent visits

from Police Community Support Officer Lisa Plastow.

like to check up on them as regularly as I can. This enables me

'to make sure that there's nothing else going on.

'If they need to give me information. It's just generally to give eye to them'

and deal with any of their concerns.

Although Lisa keeps a watchful eye on the elderly couple who were targeted by these rogues,

she also works hard to prevent crimes like this from happening to others.

One of my jobs is going to the residential homes.

There are lots of vulnerable people in there.

We go round there, we give out leaflets, we speak to the people,

we give them telephone numbers.

And just basically we advise them that they don't have to answer the door to cold-callers.

Today, Operation Mermaid has been a roaring success.

Four vehicles were seized because their drivers were not insured,

a motorist was cautioned for possession of an illegal substance

and a total of nearly £3,500 was collected in fixed penalty fines.

The doorstep rogues that Terry was particularly keen to find

have not, I'm afraid, shown their faces,

but Trading Standards are continuing to work closely with the police and are determined to fight back.

We do have descriptions not only of the individuals but also of the vehicles that they've used as well.

And we know that this is a way of life.

This is the way they act and they will visit this borough and people within this borough again.

And, hopefully, next time it will be a different story.

So here's a message for you two con men driving around this area of Essex.

You may think you've got away with it, but Trading Standards

have a description of you and your vans, and, make no mistake,

they are on your tail and your days are numbered.

We are working very, very closely with the police

and we are able, we are giving protection to residents of Thurrock

and making their lives just that little bit more safe and secure

and giving them peace of mind that we take these matters seriously

and that we want to see this crime stamped out.

Terrific stuff! Now I've just got time to tell you about Evelyn Holden from Leicestershire.

Her Neighbourhood Watch group is fighting back

against doorstep crime big time. They've set up No Cold Calling Zones,

the distribute their own fact sheets and even have a telephone hot line

to alert each other to danger. As Evelyn says in her letter,

"Whilst these initiatives can't guarantee safety,

"we hope they at least lessen the likelihood of doorstep crime."

Thanks, Evelyn. I hope you and your friends keep up the really good work.

We're here to fight back against doorstep criminals and we'd really love to hear more of your stories

about how you've stopped them ripping you off.

You can find the details about how to get in touch with us at:

Until then, thanks for watching

and I hope you'll join us again next time.

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