CONMEN who try to trick Middlewich residents out of money will be 'clamped down on', according to the borough council.

Cheshire East Council has joined forces with partners as part of a crackdown on conmen.

Working with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and the National Trading Standards Scams Team, the council is urging all residents in the town to report attempted scams in a campaign to raise awareness of con artists who obtain money and property from unsuspecting victims.

According to statistics, less than five per cent of victims report their experience and so the council’s trading standards officers and the CAB are urging all members of the public not to stay silent but to report any suspicions or activity.

Older people and the vulnerable are the group most likely to fall prey to callous con artists, who will resort to any tactics.

According to a recent council report from trading standards one Cheshire East victim was conned out of £30,000.

In east Cheshire, more than 500 residents were found to be on a list of potential victims after providing their details through surveys, online forms and catalogue orders.

It is estimated the full potential financial risk could have been in the region of £1.4m.

The council’s trading standards team have been in contact with those named to impress upon them the risks of providing personal details to third parties.

Today’s ‘scammers’ use more sophisticated methods including ‘vishing’ phone calls, in which they will convincingly impersonate bank staff or computer companies and persuade unsuspecting victims to reveal bank details and passwords.

Job advertisements and offers for goods and services or competition prizes can also turn out to be scams, especially where individuals are asked to pay money up front.

In the ‘Scams Awareness Month’ campaign, Cheshire East Council and the CAB are urging people to do two things before succumbing to an unsolicited approach – ‘Don’t be rushed and don’t be hushed!’

People should take their time to make a decision and get their facts together before parting with any money or personal details.

Cllr Les Gilbert, Cheshire East Council cabinet member in charge of communities, said: “Scams and the con artists who practice them are despicable.

“It is often older people, the frail and vulnerable who are most at risk from this abhorrent criminal practice, which appears to have grown in scale and become more sophisticated in the wake of digital technology, telephone banking and remote selling.

“But the more traditional door-to-door conmen – and women - are still out there, conning people into paying huge amounts of money for shoddy driveway and property repairs.

“I would urge all Cheshire East residents to assist us in trying to stamp out this cynical practice altogether.”