Portsmouth residents on high alert over 'awful' rogue traders posing as builders

Ruthless rogue traders are targeting residents across Portsmouth - with an investigation under way to catch the “awful” con artists.

The city council has noticed a rise in the number of rogue traders - many of whom are cold calling on our doorsteps.

Residents are now on guard and have slammed the underhand tactics being deployed to profit at the expense of the elderly and vulnerable, who are often the prime targets.

Criminals posing as roofing companies have been targeting homeowners, particularly in Southsea and Cosham, where incidents have been reported.

Unscrupulous cold callers have been turning up on people’s doorsteps across the city, with Trading Standards believing these are not from legitimate businesses. An investigation now hopes to find out who is behind this, and anyone with evidence is being urged to get in touch.

A spokesperson for Portsmouth Trading Standards said: “Please be vigilant as we have had multiple reports of cold callers knocking doors within the city offering to undertake roofing works. Based on the reports received, we are of the view that the people calling are not legitimate roofing businesses.

“Please share with friends, family, and neighbours and if you receive a knock at your door from people telling you there is a hole in your roof, loose tiles, or they have seen birds’ nests please report it to us so we can build intelligence and identify the persons involved.”

Trading Standards is looking to collect evidence on those who could be rogue traders in disguise. They have asked Portsmouth residents to send them descriptions of people who are knocking on their door, plus vehicle details and registrations, and even doorbell camera footage if it’s available.

A spokesperson for Portsmouth City Council said: “All areas of the city have been targeted rather than one specific location. We have had recent reports and witness statements from residents in areas including Southsea and Cosham.

“There is currently an active criminal investigation underway. Because of this, we can’t share further detail at the moment as it could risk harming the investigation or alerting those involved to our activity.”

The spokesperson added: “We're urging people to stay vigilant, and not to agree to work on the doorstep or let anyone into your home, but to pause and check that the company is who they say they are, and to always get at least three quotes from legitimate businesses.

“We're asking residents to report suspicious activity to us, such as descriptions of people door knocking or carrying out work, doorbell footage and vehicle registrations, by emailing [email protected] - the email can be used to request free 'no cold call' door stickers.

“Anyone who believes they've been scammed should call their bank to stop payment and report incidences of scams or fraud to Report Fraud on 0800 123 2040.”

The city council’s Trading Standards will be hoping for a similar result to the one that landed con man Paul Gaffney, 61 at the time, five years of jail time and a Criminal Behaviour Order at Portsmouth Crown Court in 2024.

Gaffney, formerly of Shelley Avenue, Paulsgrove, targeted three households in the Fareham area to carry out building and property maintenance but completed little or no work, defrauding his victims out of over £67,000.

Residents are on high alert in order to avoid falling foul of the convincing bogus traders. Southsea local Anita Cummings, 79, said she was left “shocked” when a good friend of hers from Cosham said he was recently duped by a man who knocked at the door and offered building work.

“My friend paid the deposit to the man and the price he was given for the job was twice as much as it should have been,” Anita said. “He lost the deposit but it could have been worse. I just can’t believe he paid them though. He said they seemed very good.

“I was quite shocked about it because my friend is not the sort of type to do that. He normally goes on Checkatrade and is an intelligent person. He said he’s never done anything like that before and was not sure why he did it.”

Another Southsea resident, Lynne Carr, 73, said: “It is concerning this sort of thing is happening, especially for vulnerable people. They prey on the elderly and vulnerable and they can get confused and are trusting of them. You hear more about this sort of thing these days. I am more wary.”

Frank Greenbank, 75, said it was “awful” that people are being targeted. “They prey on older people and those who are vulnerable,” he said.

Paul Farres, 76, had not experienced any suspicious door knocking but said he could be the sort of person they target being an older man living in a house alone. “I’ve had Mormons and other religious cults knock at my door but nothing else luckily. I’ve used the same builders since 1978 and would never go anywhere else anyway,” he said.

“I’m more concerned about stuff online. You get these emails. They are very clever.”

Chris Ball, 81, said: “You can’t trust anyone these days. I wouldn’t even open the door to them.”

While Portsmouth residents are under fire from rogue traders at the moment, people in Locks Heath, Warsash and Fareham were on the receiving end of unscrupulous traders in 2024 and 2025.

There were seven rogue trader incidents between September 27 and October 17 in 2024 in Titchfield, Fareham and Southampton.

Police said the males purported to be tradesmen, with them carrying out minimal work on each visit. One of the incidents led to four men being arrested after a woman in her 80s handed over £32,800 to them for roof work.

Chief Inspector of Fareham and Gosport Marcus Kennedy said at the time: “We want to raise the profile of rogue traders. What we’ve seen across Locks Heath, Warsash and Fareham is an increase in rogue traders.

“Typically they target a more senior demographic and this is a reasonably affluent area so what you find is rogue traders go knocking on doors. We are concerned about under reporting and we want to make sure people are aware there is a problem.

“The last few months we have had four incidents across the area with separate suspects and in those cases we have made arrests. Those people didn’t quite realise at first they were being conned out of money. It’s often someone who has offered a service to fix something.

“We ask people to check in on their neighbours and family. If they are having work done it might be legitimate but when traders are knocking on doors and if you don’t feel comfortable tell them, ‘I’ll speak to you later’, and close the door. Check their details and speak to a family member or neighbour and please tell us so we can help.”

Report any suspicious behaviour to [email protected] or call Report Fraud on 0800 123 2040.