The national Scam Awareness campaign, delivered through Citizens Advice, takes place from 12-25 October 2026, helping to ensure people know how to identify scams, encourage them to share their experience and have the confidence to report scams.
The 2026 campaign focusses on staying #ScamAware of tradespeople scams, particularly roofing scams.
Residents are advised to:-
- Take the time to ensure traders are trustworthy before confirming work with them. A legitimate trader won’t rush you into agreeing to work
- It’s important to be on your guard – if you’re not sure about something, take your time and get advice.
- If you think someone might be trying to scam you, it’s important to act straight away.
- Avoid posting your job requirements on trader platforms.
Find a trader
You can look online to find a trader you can trust, for example a builder or car dealer but be wary of social media. There are organisations that can give you a list of traders, including:
- your local council
- recognised audited schemes that recommend traders
- trade associations
If you need a builder, find out what other checks you should do before you ask a company to do the work.
Got a problem?
If you’ve had work done at home and there’s a problem caused by the trader, you should be able to get it fixed – or get at least some of your money back.
Whatever the problem is, you’ll need to talk to the trader and come to an agreement.
You should take up the problem with the trader who arranged the work, even if they ‘sub-contracted’ (passed on) all or some of it to another business.
Before you do that, it’s a good idea to:
- gather any paperwork and receipts
- take photos to use as evidence of the problem
- make notes about what’s happened, including dates and times
What you should do next depends on the type of problem – find out more here.
Need help?
Contact the Citizens Advice consumer service if you need more help with a consumer problem.
Citizens Advice Knowsley can be contacted via email at advice@citizensadviceknowsley.org.uk, by calling 0808 278 7839, messaging via WhatsApp to 0151 294 6309 or you can start a Live Webchat.