Pair hoover up in £150k vac scam
I do hope this isn’t going to become a regular scam. A couple of crooks have just been convicted of a Dyson vacuum cleaner servicing fraud, in a case which echoes one heard last summer.
Nathan Betts, a 28-year-old gambling addict with a drink problem from Thringstone, Leics, duped elderly victims with cold callers who said their machines needed servicing.
He continued the £150,000 fraud even after a warning from Trading Standards officers who said that Betts deliberately damaged some machines to justify repairs and used unauthorised spare parts.
He has been jailed for three years after he admitted fraud charges at Leicester crown court.
His girlfriend Charley Gray was given a suspended eight-month jail term after admitting transferring criminal property by moving money from the company account into her own.
Gary Connors, Leicestershire County Council’s head of regulatory services, said: “We’re pleased to have secured a successful prosecution following a lot of hard work and persistence by my officers who also worked closely with the Dyson organisation.”
In July last year, Leeds-based mother and son Linda and Thomas Scoffin were convicted of a similar fraud but on a larger scale, netting around £1.5million.
Not only did they charge up to £200 for worthless work – Dyson cleaners do not need servicing – they flogged industrial cleaners for around £2,000 that were too heavy for some victims to move.
Thomas, 31, was jailed for seven years and Linda, 61, for three years.