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Regional Trading Standards Scambuster Teams

£1.5m per year was made available in 2006/7 and 2007/8, to specifically fund:

• Sambuster pilots in three areas
• Eleven Regional Intelligence Units

Following the success of the pilots, further funding is being provided to allow other Regions to have a Trading Standards Scambuster team. The Government is investing approximately £7.5 million in Scambuster teams throughout Great Britain (£2.5million a year for the next three years beginning in April 2008). Our aim is that every region in England, and Scotland and Wales will have a team. Trading Standards groups will be invited to bid for a share of the funding to set up a team.

Where are the Scambuster Pilots based?

The pilot teams are based in:

• Birmingham - covering 14 local authorities across the West Midlands

• Middlesbrough - covering 12 local authorities in the North East of England

• Leatherhead and Chelmsford - covering 61 East & South East, England and London local authorities.

More teams are expected to be in operation from April 2008 onwards.

What do the Teams do? How do they work?

The teams are of dedicated trading standards officers which work alongside officers from the Police, HM Revenue & Customs and other enforcement agencies. They work across local authority boundaries focusing on the hardest to tackle scams and rogue traders that set out to rip people off. 

The teams have demonstrated new ways of working through targeted, proactive, intelligence led enforcement. We have seen much closer co-operation and data sharing between trading standards and other agencies, partly due to the level of criminality the teams have investigated. Evidence from the pilots has shown the real benefit to the teams in having a close working relationship with other enforcers.

Examples of the types of issues the pilots have targeted:

    • Doorstep crime
    • Car sales and servicing
    • Deceptive selling techniques
    • Home working and other ‘get rich quick’ schemes
    • Sale of dangerous and substandard furniture
    • ‘cowboy’ builders doing shoddy and unnecessary work
    • Large scale organised counterfeiting operations

The teams also have a proactive role in educating consumers and businesses by raising awareness of rogue traders and counterfeiters, and making consumers better able to distinguish the rogues from the reputable businesses and increasing consumer confidence.

What will the new teams be able to do that existing Trading Standards Services can’t?

Dishonest activity is not confined by local authority boundaries – but regular Trading Standards teams are. The scambuster teams have the ability to work across a region to tackle the more serious cases. The pilot teams demonstrated that they were able to make an impact in areas that would not have been possible if left to an individual local authority.

How can I get in touch with the teams?

If anyone has information about a scam or thinks they are the victim of a scam then they should contact Consumer Direct. The teams will use the information provided via Consumer Direct to target their work.

What should people do if they believe they are a victim of a scam?

If someone believes they are the victim of a scam they should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506 or via their website www.consumerdirect.gov.uk. Consumer Direct provides clear, practical and impartial advice to consumers.

Regional Intelligence Capabilities Units

BERR is also providing funding to trading standards to continue its support in the development of an intelligence analysis capability in nine regions in England, and one each in Scotland and Wales. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is providing strategic leadership for the regional intelligence network.

What is the Role of the Intelligence Units?

The units will help build a network of intelligence sharing across the country, encouraging a more intelligence led approach to enforcement. The units will use data available from a number of sources, including Consumer Direct and share intelligence with the police and other enforcement agencies, providing greater consistency and closer working partnerships.