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Government funds new Welsh Scambusters team

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2008/124) issued by The Government News Network on 18 June 2008

Rogue traders and other con merchants in Wales are set to be thwarted by a new team of "Scambusters" backed by £761,000 of Government funding.

The specialist Trading Standards team will be based in two locations, Newport and Conwy. It will help local authorities across the entire country and the Police to crackdown on rogue traders, dodgy door-step salespeople, counterfeiters, prize draw scams, cowboy builders and many other scams.

Consumer Affairs Minister Gareth Thomas said:

"Rogue traders who con honest people out of their hard earned money are a disgrace.

"This new unit will help to shut these conmen down and bring them to justice. It will concentrate on the most serious scams that cause consumers in Wales the biggest problems, but are often beyond the capacity of local councils to deal with."

Trading Standards Manager, Matthew Cridland from Newport City Council said:

"We are delighted in Wales to have secured this additional resource to tackle rogue trading activities. Effective partnership working with Trading Standards in Wales and beyond will enable us to ensure that scam operators are prioritised for rapid enforcement action.

"The team will protect the public and legitimate businesses from scams that take advantage of vulnerable consumers and damage responsible businesses."

Consumers who feel that they have been ripped off by cold calling traders or who wish to report scams or suspicious activity can report the matter to Trading Standards via the national Consumer Direct helpline on 08454 04 05 06.

Notes for Editors
* The Government's grant will be over three years to the Welsh Heads of Trading Standards group
* The team will work across 22 local authorities in Wales covering a population of 2.94m
* Local press office contact Steve Peters Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council 01685 725030
* The new team is part of a nationwide crackdown. The Government is investing approximately £7.5 million in new Scambusters teams so that Wales, Scotland and each of the nine Government regions in England have a team
* The national roll out follows the success of pilot Scambusters teams in the Midlands, North East and a combined team working across the South East, East and London. Since September 2006 their work is estimated to have saved consumers £3million
* Larger scams tend to work across local authority boundaries. This makes it difficult for local authority trading standards teams to target them. The cross border approach of Scambusters is helping to tackle this problem.
* Case studies of successful action taken by the pilot teams:
- On Thursday 31 January 2008 Phil Vyse was sent to jail for 8months and Aqualine, a damp proofing business, fined thousands of pounds after they ripped off a number of elderly people across the Midlands. An investigation found that Aqualine had conned householders by misdiagnosing damp so that it could sell unnecessary work.
- In October 2007 a massive raid involving Scambusters and three Police forces resulted in tarmac trucks, work vans and three high value sports cars being seized from a family of cold calling tarmacers. Hundreds of people were ripped off after being charged up to ten times the original quote for work. Six people have been charged with a number of criminal offences as a result of this investigation.
- Stephen Bean, a kitchen salesman from the north east, received a CRASBO (criminal ASBO) which bars him from running a business or taking part in one except as an employee. The action followed more than 100 complaints against the trader for charging for work that he did not complete.
* The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform helps UK business succeed in an increasingly competitive world. It promotes business growth and a strong enterprise economy, leads the better regulation agenda and champions free and fair markets. It is the shareholder in a number of Government-owned assets and it works to secure, clean and competitively priced energy supplies.

Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
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