Investigating the ‘Doorstep crimes’ of Distraction Burglary and Rogue Trader

Distraction Burglary and Rogue Trader fraud are crimes involving the systematic and disproportionate repeat victimisation of older people on their ‘doorstep’ and inside their homes. This chapter delineates the distinctions and overlaps between such ‘artifice’ crimes. Under reporting and under recording of these incidents as ‘crimes’ is prevalent in which some officers breach National Crime Recording Standards (NCRS). Narrative scripts include promoting the perception these crimes are “civil disputes”, as well as suggesting perpetrators are bona fide ‘legitimate’ tradespersons. The competency of the victim is also questioned where seemingly ‘confused’ burglary victims “consent” to perpetrators entering their home. Another iterative theme is of no property being stolen, which is often combined with an assertion that no offender(s) entered the property, thereby negating the ‘trespass’. Such scripts are utilised by officers to deconstruct and decriminalise the crime event, thereby justifying a ‘no crime’ decision and no requirement for further investigation.

Although rogue trader is equally traumatic for victims, as well as more financially lucrative for perpetrators, fraud is treated as a lesser crime and deemed a low policing priority; which is a surprise given that fraud constitutes 41% of all recorded crime in England and Wales (House of Commons, 2023).