Bogus callers con Kilwinning pensioner twice in four days

The 76-year-old fell victim when the fraudsters convinced them that they had worked on his home before and he parted with the money due to their welcoming nature.

The pensioner, who wished to remain anonymous, explained how the heartless thieves gained his trust and prayed on his good nature.

A different man visited their house in the town’s Dalry Road on the Wednesday previous to the incidents on the Friday and Monday but it is unclear if they are linked.

The victim said: “On the Wednesday, they declared themselves as roofing specialists so I thought to myself ‘What harm could it do to let them look?’ so the guy went up on the kitchen roof and the way that he was doing it, I very much got the impression that he was pulling slates out. He came down and told me that he could sort it all.

“On the Friday another guy, completely different. He told me that he had worked in my house before and that he was there on behalf of his company and it was the end of the guarantee period and he had just came in to see if everything was alright.

“He had a look around and he said that he thought there was a problem and said ‘I had my doubts about this one when I was here before’.

“He appears to have went up there, corrected what the other guy had done (on the Wednesday) and slotted the slates back in.

“He didn’t do anything an awful lot new but then he told me he was worried about the part of the house and had been before.

“He said he had done the work, he does home work himself out with the company and that he had an arrangement with the material suppliers and pay them once he got paid but at the moment I can’t ask them for any more so could you please give me the money to do this.”

The man gave him £250 for the work carried out but still had doubts about the whole thing but was convinced again on the Monday when the scammer returned on Monday.

He explained: “The same guy came back on the Monday and showed us the open part of the roof and once he had taken the bricks out, he put his arm in and he came out with some stuff, and passed it to his cohort.

“It was like mush and he said ‘That is wet rot’ and if you don’t get rid of that it will go right through your house.

“We now believe that the stuff they produced they probably took up with him, he probably had it in his pocket.

“They were going to start on the next day (Tuesday) and they took me down to get money.

“I argued that I had already given him £250 but he said he would need a bit more than that and he insisted so we went down and got more money and he said he would be back in the morning.”

The duo never appeared and the following day the police were contacted when the man’s daughter found out about the money and planned works.

She said: “It was the Tuesday morning I found out about it all and incredibly enough on the Monday when they agreed to go down the town (to get money), it was a woman with a baby in the car that went.

“We don’t know whether they are all connected but they might be.

“It’s gullibility and it is total belief in what these people are saying and things like ‘I’ll show you the damage’.

“I was immediately suspect when he told me that a roofer was coming. I had to go to work and when I came back I phoned the police.

“They have been fabulous.”

The pair are now dealing with the aftermath of the incident and hope that the culprits will be brought to justice.

The victim’s daughter added: “I’m shattered by it all for all sorts of reasons.

“Apart from the fact that you feel violated and you feel stupid, at the same time I’m having to keep my temper with my dad because I am so annoyed at him about it all.

It’s not for the want of telling.”

“You are sickened to the core that folk can just do this to folk, and he’s not a vulnerable person, just gullible.

“They give you this fear, they make you feel comfortable and are very friendly.

“There was no threat in this, there was no malice, there was no aggravation, no intimidation, there was nothing like that.

“It was very, very carefully done so that it all came from this side.” The victim described the man who was the main instigator as a ‘weasel’ and said that he would never trust folk going to his door again.

He said: “From the moment he appeared at the door I thought ‘I know you from somewhere, I know your face and that helped to persuade me.

“If you see this guy, the first thing you will think is ‘weasel’.

“Don’t listen to anybody coming to the door is the lesson.

“If you need any service contact a registered business and don’t believe anyone who comes to the door and the first thing you say to them is ‘f-off ’”

Police confirmed that investigations were still ongoing into the incident and that anyone with information is asked to contact them on 101.