A Glasgow couple were scammed out of £20,000 after believing they needed urgent roof repairs.

The devastated pair, who wish to remain anonymous, believed they had “significant” damage at their home in the Southside after being cold called by a fake company.

The traders convinced them that a full roof replacement was required along with repairs to the driveway and front steps.

The couple paid via bank transfer and the scammers then worked on the roof for three days, but then left the job incomplete and made a series of excuses as to why they couldn’t return.

Now locals are being warned to stay on alert as residents in the city have lost almost £50,000 to rogue traders in just six months, new figures from consumer watchdogs reveal.

Trading Standards Scotland (TSS) has urged vigilance amid a surge in doorstep scams, mis-sold services, and botched household repairs.

The organisation has launched a 'Shut out Scammers' campaign with Police Scotland designed to raise awareness about the risks of accepting work offered by cold callers.

The scam incidents included a woman who had recently moved into a new property was cold called by a builder who offered to check over the house.

He claimed that urgent work needed to be carried out, including a full roof replacement and new floorboards at a total cost of £7,000.

The woman agreed to pay this amount upfront but the builder then kept making excuses to delay the work, saying that he couldn’t get the correct materials and asking for more money to order them.

The woman ended up paying a further £8,000 for materials that never arrived and alerted the police.

In a separate case, a cold caller knocked on the door of a man in his 80s and offered to power wash his driveway.

The man agreed and paid £1,300 but was then told more work was needed and asked for a further £5,500 in cash.

The man was convinced that the repairs needed to be done urgently and so agreed to visit his bank to get the money.

However, staff at the bank felt suspicious and instigated banking protocols, meaning that the police were contacted and the transaction was refused.

TSS is warning that fraudsters are adapting their tactics to exploit the cost-of-living crisis, including making bogus claims to be working on behalf of the government with fake subsidy offers.

Criminals often employ online and social media ads featuring misleading information and reviews.

Between October 2023 and March 2024, six people across Glasgow sought help after losing a combined total of £45,750 to cold callers for incomplete or unsatisfactory roofing, gardening and driveway work. The average amount lost was £7,625.

However, the true scale of the problem is likely to be worse than indicated, as these figures do not account for unreported cases.

Councillor Maureen Chalmers, chair of Trading Standards Scotland’s governance board, said: “Unfortunately, we have seen that people across Scotland’s biggest city have lost almost £50,000 to doorstep scammers in the space of only six months. However, this is a significantly underreported problem, and there may be many more victims.

“Scammers are constantly adapting their tactics to take advantage of people, especially when many households in Glasgow are struggling to make ends meet with the cost-of-living crisis.”