Families ‘left to mercy of fraudsters’ who cost us £15bn a year

SHOPPERS have been left at the mercy of scams and unfair trading which costs the nation almost £15billion a year, watchdogs warn.

The number of trading standards officers has been cut by 56 per cent since 2009, while some areas have slashed spending by 60 per cent.

Consumer protection is suffering following the reductions, according to the National Audit Office. ‘Some services now have only one qualified officer,’ said the body, which scrutinises public spending. ‘Despite lack of funding, local trading standards teams are expected to enforce 263 pieces of legislation.’

The NAO pointed to problems such as mass marketing scams, often involving bogus prize draws. Trading standards officers also highlighted the horsemeat scandal and exploding hoverboards as evidence of what is going wrong.

The watchdog said a typical postal scam victim will lose around £4,500. Meanwhile the total cost to consumers in terms of being scammed or let down adds up to £14.8billion a year. By con-

‘System has not kept pace’

trast, officers said government spending on tackling the problem is just £165million. Around £125million of that is for council trading standards, while £18million goes to Citizens Advice.

The Daily Mail revealed earlier this year how Royal Mail was making money by effectively allowing conmen to defraud the elderly through its bulk mail contracts. An investigation found that victims were losing vast sums through letter frauds, for example from fake clairvoyants or prize-draws.

The head of the NAO, Amyas Morse, said: ‘As threats to consumers become increasingly wide-ranging, the [protection] system has not kept pace, leaving consumers inadequately protected.’

Leon Livermore, of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said: ‘The amount spent on trading standards has fallen from £213million in 2011 to £125million. It has left consumers inadequately protected and helped set conditions for issues like the horsemeat and hoverboard scandals.’