I see from the excellent blog of Kevin Pitt, Walsall Community Partnerships Officer, that opportunist conmen are preying on the local senior citizens again.

Please tell your relatives and neighbours about these con men, and impress upon them how important it is not to buy from, or accept services at the door, no matter how plausible the people offering them. Genuine companies will always contact you by other means.

Scumbags engaged in the robbing of OAPs are lower than a snake’s knees, and I hope the police continue to crack down on this cowardly, nasty crime.

Please,  if you have any further information relating to this, or any other incident, or if you witnessed something  please contact Walsall Police or Crimestoppers.

Tell your elderly relatives and friends to be careful; local police can advise on door chains and other security measures. Most of all, don’t buy at the door! Image from Cambridge Police.

Kevin Pitt wrote:

I have just put the following message out on the West Midlands Police messaging system and, given the nature of the offences, have decided to make the information more widely available.

Two incidents have recently been reported of rogue traders driving elderly residents to the bank in order to withdraw money to pay for gardening work.

The first incident took place in the Bloxwich area on Friday 1st February when two men in a grey ’03′ registration van took an elderly resident to a bank on Bloxwich High Street where he attempted to withdraw £1800, the men having already taken £400 off him at his home. Luckily bank staff became suspicious and alerted the police. The payment was supposedly for fencing work.

The second incident took place on Monday 4th February in the Clayhanger area. Three men in a green and white ’06′ registration van cleared away some trees before driving the victim to the bank where he withdrew £400 to pay them.

In both cases the traders did not provide proper quotes or receipts for the work done.

Please be on the look out for any suspicious traders in your area, particularly if they appear to be targeting the homes of elderly or vulnerable people. If you do see anything suspicious, contact the police immediately. For more information on the signs that give away rogue traders, visit my blog: Making Walsall Too Hot for the Bogus Callers

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Walsall Police by dialling 101 or speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.