Businesses Imitation and Fraud

It has been brought to our attention that a rogue trader operating in the southeast of England area has been creating imitation businesses, mirroring genuine traders in the heating sector, and undertaking substandard work or conning homeowners out of money with no work being undertaken. If you would like to raise a concern regarding a rogue trader, get in touch with the team today. 

Scammers, fraudsters, rogue traders – there are many names for individuals or companies that attempt to obtain money or personal information by being misleading, coercive or by simply lying. In this article, we highlight the steps available to protect consumers and your business. 

If you think a business has broken the law or acted unfairly, you can report them to Trading Standards. Trading Standards use the information you give them to investigate unfair trading and illegal business activity, like rogue traders and scams. 

Consumers should report a business to Trading Standards if they sold something: 

• unsafe or dangerous 
• not as described 
• they didn’t want to buy it (often linked to doorstep selling) 

Additionally, Trading Standards will also want to know if: 

• they have been scammed – for example, they’ve paid for something online that didn’t arrive, and the seller couldn’t be contacted 
• they tried to stop a consumer using their legal rights – for example, they said faulty goods couldn’t be returned 
• they didn’t carry out work properly 

Legislation, namely The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations mean you cannot mislead or harass consumers by, for example: 

• including false or deceptive messages 
• leaving out important information 
• using aggressive sales techniques 

It is a breach of the Regulations (and potentially a criminal offence) to engage in an ‘unfair commercial practice’. In relation to the description of a product, a practice is unfair if it is either of the following and can be verbal, written, illustrated (advertising) or implied: 

• a ‘misleading action’ (it contains false or misleading information and is therefore untruthful in relation to a list of specified matters, or its overall presentation in any way deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer). 
• a ‘misleading omission’ (it omits or hides material information or provides material information in a manner that is not clear) 

In addition, for a practice to be unfair the trader’s misleading action or omission must cause, or be likely to cause, the average consumer to take a different transactional decision (as above, this could be to buy as opposed to not buy, having work done or not, or paying a different amount for goods). The law also introduces a general duty not to trade unfairly. 

Trading Standards will enforce legislation and can take businesses to court or stop them operating. It would be the responsibility of the consumer to take the business to court to recover funds. Citizens Advice can offer support and advice in relation to the problem and can be contacted on 0808 223 1133. 

If your business is subject to imitation, you should contact Trading Standards as soon as possible. You should keep as much evidence as possible, including screenshots of websites and any online evidence such as social media (anything that could later be deleted). You should also consider seeking advice from a Solicitor. Please contact HETAS to advise of any issues you may have in relation to business imitation at the earliest opportunity. HETAS has a Primary Authority status with Trading Standards and can support any enforcement action, including the production of Witness Statements. Our complaints team can also offer advice to consumers who have been subject to imitation businesses or other malpractice. Contact the team on [email protected] or call 01684 278170. 

As a brand owner, whether for a small business or a large multinational organisation, you will want to do as much as possible to protect it.  We feel the same way about protecting the HETAS brand and only allowing it to be used by legitimate registered businesses. 

We have in the past seen examples where businesses have had their website cloned. This was apparent for pellet fuel suppliers in 2022. There are processes available to report such websites. Anyone can contact hosting companies and domain registrars if their services are being abused, requesting that the service be withdrawn by removing either the domain name or the web hosting service. All reputable registrars and hosting companies have terms and conditions that forbid sending phishing emails or distributing malware.  

Further guidance on this issue can be found on the National Cyber Security Centre website. 

Please contact the team if you have any concerns relating to rogue traders in your area.