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News Archive - 2019

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Rise in Modern Slavery in Fraud and Scams

27th November 2019 • Posted in

Organised crime groups are playing an increased role in doorstep crime and other scams, according to the annual Consumer Harm Report published today by National Trading Standards.

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Free call blockers for victims of scam and nuisance phone calls

15th October 2019 • Posted in

Free call blockers are being made available to people who believe they are being targeted with scam and nuisance phone calls. Between 1,800 and 2,000 call blockers are being provided on a first come, first served basis by the National Trading Standards Scams Team. Local authorities and care providers are expected to apply on behalf of victims – and individual applications from victims or family members will also be available.

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Five sentenced following fraud case

30th September 2019 • Posted in

The director and employees of an energy company that claimed to recover overpayments and VAT from UK energy suppliers for small businesses have been sentenced to a combined total of 13 years at Nottingham Crown Court today (Friday 30 August).

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Cold-calling fish seller ordered to repay victims

27th September 2019 • Posted in

​A doorstep criminal who ran fish-selling businesses that contravened consumer protection regulations has been sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court today (27 September). Adam Brown used a number of illegal sales techniques to exploit consumers, resulting in nearly £8,500 lost by consumers from nearly 60 transactions.

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Redress scheme warning for Estate and Letting Agents

24th July 2019 • Posted in

Estate and Letting Agents in the UK are being urged to check that they are signed up with an approved redress scheme that covers the full remit of their work. The warning follows a recent tribunal that penalised a business that was signed up to a redress scheme for its letting agency work but not for its property management work.

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Foyer Trader Convicted of Defrauding Customers

3rd July 2019 • Posted in

A man who operated a fraudulent business that sold kitchens and bathrooms to consumers out of Tesco supermarket foyers has received a 98 week prison sentence, suspended for 2 years, at Harrow Crown Court. He has also been ordered to complete 150 hours community service, pay Brent & Harrow Trading Standards costs of £59,354 and a statutory charge of £100.

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Company directors jailed for online scam

10th May 2019 • Posted in

Company directors of a firm selling electrical goods have been jailed for a total of nearly seven and a half years following a fraud investigation by the North Yorkshire and York based National Trading Standards eCrime team.

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Car Dealership Fined £50k For Consumer Breaches

9th May 2019 • Posted in

A second-hand car dealer based in Keighley has been ordered to pay £53,567 for secondhand vehicle sales that misled consumers. The fines were handed down at Leeds Magistrates Court on 30 April 2019 after the company entered guilty pleas relating to six breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.

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New team to help ensure estate and letting agents act within the law

17th April 2019 • Posted in

A new team has been set up to provide greater protection for renters in England from letting agents who charge illegal tenant fees. This follows legislation that will ban tenant fees in the private sector in England from 1 June 2019. The new enforcement team – being led by National Trading Standards – will be responsible for regulating the private rental sector in England, protecting tenants and safeguarding compliant letting agents.

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Mother and son ordered to pay back customers for Dyson vacuum fraud

15th April 2019 • Posted in

A mother and son who ran a company that fraudulently serviced Dyson vacuum cleaners have been ordered to pay back more than £370,000 at a proceeds of crime hearing at Leeds Crown Court. Thomas Scoffin, director of Leeds-based Excel Servicing Ltd, and his mother, Linda Scoffin, were convicted in 2017 of conspiracy to defraud and sentenced to a total of ten years in prison following an investigation by National Trading Standards.

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Suspected computer software fraudsters arrested

12th April 2019 • Posted in

Three people suspected of being involved in computer fraud have been arrested. Trading standards officers and police officers executed entry warrants at the homes of a 64 year old man and a 34 year old woman in Birmingham, and a 34 year old man in Swindon. They have been interviewed and released pending further investigation. A 65 year old woman from Tamworth agreed to be interviewed by police without the need for arrest. A further suspect remains at large.

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Time behind bars for doorstep criminal

5th April 2019 • Posted in

​Pressurising vulnerable consumers and demanding payment for excessive and unwanted quantities of fish were just some of the tactics used by a door-to-door fish-selling company whose owner has been sentenced to 12 months behind bars today.

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Father and daughter sentenced to 46 months for timeshare ‘leisure credit’ scam

21st March 2019 • Posted in

​Following an investigation by the National Trading Standards Regional Investigation Team Central England, Dominic O’Reilly (55) of Costa Adeje, Tenerife was sentenced to a total of 28 months imprisonment and his step-daughter, Stephanie O’Reilly (30) of Dickens Heath, Solihull was sentenced to a total of 18 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, for their part in a timeshare ‘leisure credit’ scam. 

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Retailers must do more on knife sales

15th March 2019 • Posted in

National Trading Standards is calling on retailers to do more to prevent knife crime after interim findings from a new programme of test purchasing revealed many were selling knives without undertaking required age verifications.

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National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team seize thousands of counterfeit and unsafe goods

18th January 2019 • Posted in

A joint operation between the National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team Central England, Birmingham Trading Standards, West Midlands Police and partners including the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG), the National Markets Group (NMG) and brand representatives, has resulted in the seizure of £2.5 million worth of counterfeit and unsafe products including clothing, jewellery and cosmetics.

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