Bogus workmen are a particular target for trading standards officers taking part in roadside events.
Highland Council team leader Mark McGinty said events such as the one at Kingussie provide a good opportunity to identify tradesmen travelling into the Highlands to prey on vulnerable people.
He said: “What we’re looking for is criminality on the road network.
“In particular bogus tradesmen who come into the area and commit offences, particularly looking at vulnerable adults.
“This is an opportunity for us to either speak with local businesses to make them aware of the situation but also if we do happen to come across any bogus tradesmen attempting to come into the area we can deal with them as they come in.”
Many fake traders carry leaflets and flyers with information which they put through unsuspecting people’s doors fishing for work.
While stopping bogus tradesmen at the side of the A9 means they can not be caught in the act, Mr McGinty believes it is better to be pre-preemptive.
He said: “We want to engage with them. If they have a flyer we will check the details on it, usually there’s a phone number or address and if we check that, quite often we’ll find there’s false information.
“Automatically that tells us we are dealing with someone who is bogus and not who they say they are.
“If we get then we seize that from them. Likewise if we check paperwork that has similar bogus information then we’ll take that off them.
“What we can’t do through an operation like this is actually catch them in the act.
“But my view is if they’ve got 300 or 3,000 flyers and they’re seized then that’s 3,000 letterboxes they’ve not gone through.
“From a preventative point of view we have the power to seize it and the public won’t even know about it.”
