A Review of Thrift Urban Housing’s Proposed Fraud Scheme

In this week’s Thrift Urban Housing blog I will be taking a closer look at a new scheme that has been proposed by Thrift Urban Housing. This scheme aim to tackle the problem of fraud against elderly, vulnerable and disabled people who are scammed or tricked into giving up large sums of money to dodgy builders and contractors.

People who are familiar with Thrift Urban Housing may already know that they have several programmes in place already that aim to help people in need. The Building Handyman scheme is significant because it helps people find the right builder for their situation before any kind of fraud can occur.

However, it is not always plain sailing, some people fall victim to fraudsters because they do not have the knowledge of building and maintenance and are therefore taken advantage of. This is where the new Thrift Urban Housing fraud scheme comes into play. For those occasions where people overlook the Building Handyman programme, they may be able to limit the damage done through the proposed fraud scheme.

Not Enough Information Out There

As outlined on the Thrift Urban Housing blog post, there just isn’t enough information out there to help people who have been victims of fraud. It is believed that up to 99% of fraud victims do not know where to turn after becoming the target of fraudsters with many turning to the BBC consumer affairs programmes and other TV shows.

Perhaps the main hurdle Thrift Urban will face with this new scheme is promotion, that is to say, simply making people aware of its existence. The very reason that fraudsters target people in this situation is firstly, because they know the person lacks knowledge of the industry and will not question the price or quality of the job and second, they know that the target cannot do much to retaliate once the fraud is done.

What Thrift Urban Housing Can Do

Thrift Urban aim to provide the retaliatory option that has been desperately missed for too long by pursuing the offending party and retrieving the client’s money. This would be achieved through investigative work and civil claims through the courts that will be fought on behalf of the client. In many cases, fraudsters will have assets or savings that can be targeted for the client   

Thrift Urban acknowledge that the scheme is still in its early stages, but know that spreading the message to fraud victims in the London area that there is an option now available will hopefully provide peace of mind.