Attention all California homeowners! Recent events in Colorado have alerted homeowners across the nation to the latest strategy of home burglars, which apparently involves people masquerading as fake roofing contractors who gain access to people’s homes under the pretenses of performing an ‘inspection’ and the upon entering, they initiate a robbery.
Beware of Fake Roofing Contractors!
The latest homeowners to be robbed as a result of this scheme is an elderly couple in a small farming community of Wattenburg, Colorado, and as they told local authorities, they were approached by two men at their home who said they were there on behalf of their insurance company to inspect their roof. Despite their initial confusion, as their roof had just been replaced a few year earlier, the couple agreed and let the two men into their home without any further inspection into their identities.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until after one of the fake roofing contractors had slide into the house while the other was distracting the husband outside and stolen a substantial amount of cash, did the homeowner proceed to ask for further identification, which prompted the two fake contractors to take off in their vehicle. In addition to learning that we should never let anyone into our home without first properly identifying themselves with verifiable proof, we must also take another lesson from this situation, which is simply that the elderly are not the only ones who remain vulnerable to these type of fraud scams, and as a result, we must all be on high alert to the potential for fake roofing contractors to try and rob our homes.
By virtue of the fact that many homeowners are unaware of some of the basic and commonplace practices used by legitimate roofing contractors or roofing inspectors who are working on behalf of an insurance company, many of us could fall easy prey to the plot of the fake roofing contractor who says he is there to inspect your roof, only to let him into your home and have him make away with your valuables and belongings. It’s actually not that hard to imagine but what actions could you take in an effort to make yourself and your home much less vulnerable to these types of schemes?
Trust Only Yorkshire Roofing Contractors!
Well, first you should take the obvious step of familiarizing yourself with how an authentic roofing contracting company operates and behaves, starting with understanding that a professional contractor is not going to do an unannounced drop-by visit to your house for an impromptu inspection.
A professional Bay Area roofing company for example, will always keep you informed as to the necessary maintenance or inspection times, especially as it would relate to an appointment that would require them to enter your house. Also keep in mind that unlike the fake roofing contractors who lied to the elderly couple in Colorado, a professional roofing company with licensed contractors will be easily identifiable, from the truck or van they are driving, the logos on their uniforms, as well as via the way they introduce themselves and thoroughly and politely explain who they are and why they are there. Another important thing to remember when protecting yourself from fraudulent roofing contractors is that even in situations where you are uncomfortable or uncertain as to whether or not someone is legitimate, you can always ask for the number of the company’s office in order to verify the credentials of the people at your door.