Fraud Tip of the Day - August 6

Door-to-Door Home Repair Scams

Be wary if someone comes to your door offering their unsolicited home repair services. Many of these handymen are looking to scam you.

Your home may be in need of repair or maintenance but you should heed our warning about door-to-door handymen. Many of them are scam artists looking to take advantage of you. They prefer to target the elderly but no one is safe from these criminals. They're usually quite knowledgeable and will be eager to help you in any way possible. But what do you really know about this person that showed up unannounced at your door? You'd be surprised at how many people fall for their sales pitch and allow them inside. That's when the fun begins.

Should you give them a deposit?

If they're dishonest, you can bet they'll find something wrong and it's going to be expensive to fix. They'll point out problems with your roof, your plumbing, your electrical wiring and if you bring something up they'll pounce on it like a piece of meat and agree to fix it for you. They'll tell you that all they need to get started is a small deposit for materials before work can begin. A deposit of this kind isn't unusual and it's the key to this scam being successful. Once you give them the money, you may never see them again.

In some instances, the handyman will come back and pretend to make the agreed upon repairs. If you're not watching carefully or don't know much about the work being done, it will be hard to realize just how little they're doing. Some of them will even bring in used or counterfeit parts to make the scam that much more effective. Once they're done, they'll just keep coming back to make more and more repairs if you let them.

Home Repair Scams Target Seniors

Many of these home repair scams involve seniors, especially those with Alzheimer's. They're perfect targets because they often forget whether or not they've paid the repair bill. A common practice among these repair scam operators is to come back and bill the hapless home owner again and again for a repair that's already has been paid for! There have been reports of people paying thousands and thousands of dollars for a single repair that might have only cost a couple hundred bucks.

Don't be Afraid to Say "No"

Your best bet to avoid this kind of scam is to never accept an offer from someone peddling their services door-to-door. Only let licensed, bonded or at least highly recommended workers do home repairs for you. Our last piece of advice is that you take the time to look into any references given.