The deposit disappearance scam is one of the most common forms of contractor fraud. A builder quotes for significant work, requests a substantial deposit to secure the start date and purchase materials, and then either fails to start at all or starts briefly before disappearing. Calls go unanswered, messages are not returned, and the website — if there was one — may have been taken down.
The financial loss in these cases can be very significant: deposits of thousands or tens of thousands of pounds are not uncommon for larger building projects. This article explains what to do, in what order, when this has happened to you.
Immediate Steps
Stop any further payments: do not make any further payment regardless of the reason given. If the contractor reappears with an explanation and a request for more money, do not pay.
Document everything: gather and preserve every piece of communication with the contractor: emails, texts, WhatsApp messages. Screenshot everything and store copies in multiple places. Note the dates and content of any telephone conversations.
Photograph the state of work: take a comprehensive photographic record of the property as it currently stands, capturing the work that has been done (or not done) and any damage caused.
Contact your bank: if you paid by bank transfer, contact your bank’s fraud team immediately. Under the Contingent Reimbursement Model code, banks are expected to reimburse victims of authorised push payment fraud where the bank failed to take adequate steps. This is a claim worth making promptly.
If you paid by credit card: payments by credit card over £100 are protected under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which makes the credit card company jointly liable with the supplier. Contact your card provider and make a Section 75 claim.
Reporting
Report the fraud to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040), which is the national reporting centre for fraud. Obtain a crime reference number; this may be needed for bank claims and is useful for any subsequent proceedings.
Report to your local trading standards service, which has powers to investigate rogue traders. Trading standards complaints are most effective where there is evidence of a pattern of conduct — other victims, multiple complaints — so connecting your complaint with others who have been affected by the same contractor is valuable.
Finding the Contractor
For legal proceedings, you need a current address where the contractor can be served. If they have given a false address or have become uncontactable, professional tracing is typically needed. Most contractors who disappear with deposits are findable: they have vehicles, Companies House records, or other public record presence that allows them to be located.
At ARF Private Investigators, we regularly trace contractors who have disappeared following deposit fraud. Contact us with the information you have and we will advise on what is possible.
Legal Proceedings
Once you have a verified current address, a solicitor can issue a letter before action and, if no satisfactory response is received, issue proceedings in the county court. Claims up to £10,000 proceed through the small claims track and do not require legal representation, though specialist advice is valuable for larger claims.
Has a builder disappeared with your deposit? Contact ARF Private Investigators to trace them and gather the evidence you need.