Legal advice: Trading standards ask licensees for anti-scam help

Statistics from the Office of Fair Trading show that nearly half of the UK population - 20 million people over the age of 15 - have been targeted by a scam.

Trading standards officers, who receive thousands of calls every month relating to scams, have appealed to small business owners to help improve their anti-scam intelligence network.

Sarah Smith, the Trading Standards Institute's lead officer for scams, says: "Licensees can help by telling us about things they find out about. We're not always able to take action on every report we get but it helps us to paint a picture."

Trading standards officers deal with criminal offences that lie behind scams, for example theft, deception and instances where a false trade description has been made.

There are no 'scam laws' in the UK, so trading standards departments prosecute using the Trade Description Act and the Theft Act. Recently they have made use of new powers granted under the Enterprise Act, which can grant injunctions to stop scammers in their tracks. If the scammer continues their dodgy practice, they can be sent to prison for contempt of court.

Over the past few years publicans have been targeted by a range of scammers.

Ms Smith advises: "Contact your local trading standards department. If you've got evidence, then keep it. Once we get the initial piece of information and we think there are issues, we will come and talk to you. Keep any contracts or notes of conversations.

"Although we might not be able to get your money back, it's about stopping it happening to others as well. That's why getting the information flow in is important."