Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is a valuable partner of the RCMP and often flag alerts of trends they are seeing. They are noticing an increased reporting related to misleading home services and equipment. Victims are being contacted, through ads on social media, telemarketing calls or from door-to-door sales persons.
Some of the more common service scams reported are:
- Home services and equipment
- Paving/asphalt services
- Air duct cleaning
- Furnace, hot water tank or other home appliances or equipment
- General contracting or home maintenance
Door- to- door scammers will offer services for low or discounted rates. In some cases, if payment is made upfront the contractor may disappear without doing the job. In other cases, if the scammer completes the services:
- They are of low quality
- The warranties are invalid
- The repairs can cause potential risks
If approached by a stranger offering services that you did not seek out yourself, RCMP advise the public to research the legitimacy of the business prior to agreeing to any financial transactions.
Here are some tips to protect yourself from scams and frauds:
- Don’t be afraid to say no!
- Do your research
- Don’t give out personal information
- Beware of upfront fees
To learn more about frauds and scams, please visit: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)