If it’s raining, look out for roofing con men
A good rule of thumb, police say, goes something like this: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
San Leandro police Sgt. Jerry Codde is well-versed in a whole host of different scams. While San Leandro has not recently seen many reports of people being taken, he said people should always be on their toes.
With the rainy season approaching, he said, people should be aware of the age-old roofing scam.
In that con, a person will come to the door of a home and offer to fix faulty rain gutters or leaky roofs. The point of the con is usually to draw the resident out of the home so the scammer’s associates can burglarize the residence for cash and jewelry.
“If you didn’t call them, send them on their way,” Codde said.
He said that people should never accept offers in mall or grocery store parking lots from people offering cut-rate auto-repair services. In some cases, Codde said, the scammers will actually inflict damage on a person’s car while they are shopping and then coincidentally offer to fix the damage after the motorist returns to their car.