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A Victoria Street resident in Kingston, Ontario, has lost $7,500 after men claiming to be a roofer took his money and disappeared.
Det. Craig Boyce says Kingston police are investigating the apparent scam, which happened on February 28 and began with a very professional-looking bid for roof repairs.
“They put on a piece of letterhead from a real roofing company in the area and just handwritten it, and he got the money,” Boyce said.
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Police say when the man had concerns he called and arranged a refund, but the scammer never came to return the money after promising to do so.
Global Kingston was able to locate and speak to the elderly man who was the victim of the scammers. He says he was working in his garden when he was approached by three people.
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He says it was one person in particular who did all the talking and gave him the selling point that convinced him to let her start work on his home.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of something like this in this industry,” said Benn Van Ryn, owner of Rydel Roofing in Kingston.
He says most professional roofers would never ask for payment right away.
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“We would make an appointment where people have the opportunity to visit us in advance, they can read our reviews and we go into detail about everything,” he said. “It’s not like we’re going to ask for a bunch of cash right there, so that’s an instant red flag to me.”
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Police say they believe the Victoria Street resident is not the only person approached by these individuals. According to Boyce, police are hoping to get as much evidence as possible from the public.
“People have security cameras, they have the door cameras, some people even have them in their cars,” Boyce said.
Police say before agreeing to any work, research the company online and contact the company directly. Don’t use the phone numbers or email addresses someone gave you on your doorstep.
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https://globalnews.ca/news/9571733/kingston-resident-alleged-roofing-work-scam/
