Greg's Corner

It’s door-to-door scam season

By Greg Collier

With the weather being warmer, scammers are starting to move from online scams to scams that come to your door. Many of these scams target older people who are home during the day especially if they live alone. One of the more popular scams is the home repair scam. In these instances, scammers will knock on your door and tell you that they have left over supplies from a job they just completed and will do repairs to your home for cheap. Typically, these jobs are shoddily done if anything is done at all after you pay. However, in at least one community, the scam starts out this way, but has a much more nefarious purpose.

In the Southwest corner of Michigan, several communities have reported home repair scammers in their area. These scammers are said to travel in nondescript trucks with no company markings. Some vehicles are even said to have tinted windows. The men in the trucks will go up to the homes of elderly residents offering home repair services. They’ll then try to get the resident to come out of the house by showing parts of the outside of the house that could potentially need repairs. Meanwhile, the scammer has a partner who goes in through the unlocked door to steal items from inside the home. One victim had thousands of dollars in cash taken from inside their home.

If someone approaches your door offering you services unsolicited, there’s a good chance they may be a scammer. Legitimate salesmen, as annoying as they might be, will leave product information and their business card if you’re interested. Scammers will try to pressure you into making a decision right there and then. One of the best ways to avoid these scammers is to not answer the door if you’re not expecting anyone. A better way is to have a camera doorbell installed. This way, you’ll be able to see and communicate with the person at your door without opening your home to them.

If you have family that is older and possibly living alone, please let them know about this scam.