Drive way Cleaning scam - worried of repercussions

[FTMaz]

Hi all
cant believe I am writing this because of stupid myself and my partner have been.

we have just been scammed by travellers who knocked on the door to clean our drive. My partner is less ‘streetwise’ shall we say than me and he agreed £350 to clean the drive (it normally costs us around £450) with it needing doing he agreed and he noticed they were doing others in the street too. The man doing it knocked the door and then asked if we wanted the back doing, my partner agreed as the drive looked good.

anyway long story short at the end of cleaning they asked for £3000, my partner refused and they started making comments about the cars, my partners watch and the house which they would have clear view of from the back as is is all bifolds. my partner was talking to them for about 45 minutes about not be willing to pay the price whilst a van of 3 men drove up and down the street. My partner paid them £1200 which is obviously ridiculous but he said for the sake of them going away he would rather pay it ( we have a baby in the house too)

now before people tell me how stupid we’ve been trust me I know. But I am now extremely worried they will come back or worse break into the house. In my work I have worked with many traveller families and I have always found them to be decent people (albeit in my line of work they would require my help) and therefore I have never had a negative view of them or believe what people say. However after this I am now worried. Has anyone fell for a similar scam and did it just end there? A friend of mine said paying them was the worse thing because they will return and demand more money.

we have monitored cameras on the property which is a plus.

any similar experiences or advice please share!

thank you

I doubt they'll be back. They know they've already conned you out of money. That was their aim. They'll move onto their next target

Likely they were targeting your immediate area. That's what happens round my way. They bombard a small area, make what they can and then bugger off to somewhere else. My Father in Law got done for pressure washing his front patio. £500 for about 25 sq metres!

one of my neighbours is an elderly man across the road and they were doing his so I hope he’s okay. I said to my partner I should check but he said he might be embarrassed so best not to. I will probably pop round tomorrow and just make small talk about something else to check in on him.

hopefully that will be the end of it then.

Did you think about calling the police? They were making threats.
Warn your neighbours anyway and put any cctv online if you can.

Yes I called 101 but as always it said they were receiving high call volume so after 45 minutes on hold I gave up. I doubt they would be very proactive anyway - it is a case of our own fault I guess. I have posted a warning into the community Facebook group.

It’s not your fault really, people are busy and don’t always think on the spot and you could have paid them £100 more maybe, that’s a negotiation and fair enough but they threatened and that is a crime, an emergency for 999 imo. Especially a woman calling the police, I would expect the police to attend. Ppl call the police for way less. It’s basically theft. Although now reading again, you were not home and it was dh, so.

Yea I guess so. I was home I popped out but came back and my baby was in the house.

Some years ago a magistrate friend got caught like this. Told me in utter disgust, that she could have had a month in Cornwall for what had been extorted from her. After that I never thought anyone was immune.

Report to your local pcso or 101 may have an email. Ideally when they are still in the area.

Please report it to the police. Even is there is nothing they can do now they need intel on things like this. And you've got cameras.
Also please check in on your neighbour. If he's been scammed too a friendly face is worth so much.

Well I guess it’s a mistake you only make once!

I have reported it online now and told them I can provide CCTV as could my neighbours. I will pop round tomorrow to see my neighbour, he lives with his wife so I’m not worried about him being alone.

Sorry to be a pain but is the general consensus that they take what money they can get and that’s the end of it? Since becoming a mum I worry more about the house being broken into etc and since they have seen my partners watch which is a rare and expensive one (not trying to show off or sound like a dick) I’m even more worried as they know there is something here worth breaking in for. As I said I have security and a panic button but someone coming into my home is my worst nightmare.

They just make it up don’t they to extort people because they know you’ll be intimidated. I’m not sure what they would actually do if you point blank refused. I think I will have a sleepless night 😫

Yea I’ve reported it to the police online as I was on hold to 101 for so long. I have the reg of the van and it all on CCTV in clear view. I don’t think the police will really take it seriously as there was no direct threat just implied. I’m not one for bashing the police as I know they do a good job with the resources they have but I don’t even think burglary is taken seriously.

Where in Scotland was this may I ask? We have had the same thing might be the Same area

In all likelihood, they won’t bother you again. They blitz a specific area and then move on. They won’t risk coming back to yours because they know that you are now on high alert.

A couple of years ago, my neighbour got scammed over pressure washing her roof. They quoted £800 but then wanted £5k. And they damaged her roof tiles! A very expensive afternoon for her and it all stemmed from her feeling sorry for the lads in question and wanted to give them a chance.

It’s fraud by false representation OP. I see quite a lot of travellers in court for this type of crime. It’s usually roof or gutter repairs round here. They did an 80-year-old woman out of 40k recently. Her daughter phoned 999 after she caught them in the act and the police were there in 5 mins.

The police can and do respond. And FWIW the perpetrators rarely come back, unless they think they can extort money. If they come back and you feel threatened you can phone 999.

Hi
I’m not in Scotland I’m in England

I think this is why the younger one is involved because he was a cute cheeky chappy type who asked me for a drink so you obviously think awwww 🤦🏻‍♀️

I can see why it happens, my partner is a big bloke and an ex professional athlete who most people wouldn’t bother but when there are 5 men asking for money on your doorstep with your baby in the house it becomes a different story. God knows how it must feel to be a vulnerable or elderly person.

my cousin who at the time was boxing professionally (there is a theme here 😂) had his watch taken when walking home from a night out at knife point. Everyone was really surprised considering he was a boxer but his view was I’d rather lose my watch than get stabbed…..