Kingston Police would like to inform the public of a current crime trend, where victims are being ‘conned’ out of large amounts of money.

The method used is for a lone male to call on the elderly occupier of residential premises, stating that he is working on sewers nearby and has broken a sewer, which will cause the occupant’s toilet to over-flow.

The male claims to be working for Dyno-Rod (or similar organisation) and states he must purchase an emergency pump to prevent the over-flow flowing into the resident’s property. He then asks for the occupier to pay between £3,500 and £4,500, which he states will be reimbursed later. The male caller is very plausible and one incident resulted in the victim trying to withdraw thousands of pounds from their personal bank account.

There are various descriptions but the composite is: White male, age 35-50yrs, 6′ tall, broad / stocky, short dark / brown hair wearing smart clothes / suit, possibly with an Irish accent.

ANY like scenarios should be reported to the police on 101, or 999 if the suspect is still on scene.  Please inform friends and neighbours, especially the elderly.