COWBOY builders, bogus officials and piracy rings operating in Blackburn with Darwen are to feel the heat from an expert team of ‘scambusters’.

The council has given the green light for a regional team of specialists to crack down on con artists preying on vulnerable people in the borough.

The move, part of an £825,000 a year initiative, comes as police also launch a major campaign to encourage victims of scams to report fraudsters.

Councillors have been told the Scambusters team has pledged to ‘take any necessary steps’ to investigate rogue traders.

This includes making use of controversial ‘spying’ legislation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIPA) Act.

That means members of the team will be able to intercept phone calls, e-mails and letters, carry out covert surveillance, use informants and hack into electronic data to bring criminals to justice.

According to the council, the Scambusters team, which is based in Liverpool, is also capable of investigating more serious criminality, which local authorities do not have the resources for.

It will particularly look at ‘cross-border criminals’ who may previously have slipped through the net.

Coun John Slater, executive member for neighbourhoods and customer services, said: “We’ve committed to this one year trial until March 2011.

“It grants power to this very successful team from Liverpool to function in our area and aggressively chase down anyone acting fraudulently.

“Anything that helps our residents and stops them being scammed, I am more than happy with.

“RIPA allows them to use any means possible to see if the criminal is money laundering, funding drugs, etc.

"Surveillance is the main one, if they are recorded on camera, they can’t deny the offence. It can only be a good thing.”

Police have also called for victims of fraud to come forward and have just held a major conference highlighting the problem of email, phone and letter scams.

According to officers one in 10 British adults have fallen victim to cons which promise large sums of money on receipt of an initial fee Detective Inspector Janet Baldwin said: “It is a devastating crime which often leaves its victims feeling embarrassed because they have ‘fallen’ for a scam.

"As a result, many don’t even tell there family or friends, or even the police.

“We want to prevent and disrupt this appalling crime.”