POLICE have urged people in the Wellington area to look out for those who they think might be falling foul to rogue traders.

Sgt Jon O’Connor told members of Wellington Town Council on Monday (April 13) that they had intercepted a couple of people from parting company with “large amounts of money” to unscrupulous traders for carrying out work on properties that was deemed necessary but actually was not — such as roof repairs, driveways and paving and general gardening work.

“Does anybody know anyone who might be susceptible to this?” he asked councillors. “If anybody does know of anyone who might be targeted by rogue traders please pass on information to us.”

Sgt O’Connor, in his report, said: “Offenders tend to target elderly and vulnerable people who are more trusting and less likely to challenge what they are being told. There can even be follow-up visits for further remedial work requiring additional money on top of what’s already been paid.

“Recently, we supported two victims of this practice and managed to prevent large sums of money from changing hands.”

And Sgt O’Connor advised: “Any suspected rogue trader can be reported to the police or Trading Standards and if at any point somebody feels threatened or intimidated they should dial 999.”

It was queried as to how the police found out about the two people he mentioned in his report.

Sgt O’Connor said that on one occasion they had been notified by worried family members and in the other incident a bank had flagged up concerns about unusually large money withdrawals being made by a customer.

Police have advised that people should check the trader’s name, address and contact number against official records to confirm authenticity and that they have been given written notice of their right to cancel — a 14-day cooling-off period.