By Tim Gamble
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Early last week, in a nearby small town here in WNC, there was a group of men going around posing as door-to-door salesman. They were driving cars with New York license plates, and were "selling" insect/pest protection services. Later in the week, they started working the area very near to my house. The scammers were described as being white males in their 30s or early 40s.
According to the folks that delt with them, they would use very aggressive tactics, including 1) literally putting their foot in the door to prevent the homeowner from closing the door on them, 2) continuing their sales pitch even after they were told no and asked to leave, and 3) making comments about a major "infestation" in the neighborhood and implying that the homeowner could be in legal trouble if they "contributed" to the problem by refusing to treat their home.
Several people reported them to local police, but the scammers would be gone by the time they arrived. No word on how many people bought their service, if any. In at least one case, the scammer began asking about the number and ages of any children in the home.
Police contacted the established pest services in the area, and all denied having sales people going door-to-door last week.
A few quick lessons:
As financial problems increase and morality decreases, expect more and more scams and criminal activities to occur, even in small towns and rural areas. Be aware.
Do NOT open your door to talk to sales people or other strangers. Talk to them through the locked door only, if you must. It is okay to ignore them or to simply tell them to go away. Don't worry about appearing rude or impolite.
Police response time was surprising very slow, which is why the scammers were never confronted by the police. Police departments across the country are understaffed and underfunded, and an aggressive door-to-door salesman or even a potential scammer is simply not considered a high-priority situation. You are basically on your own.
*** You can find Tim Gamble on social media! Follow at Gab (@TimGamble), Twitter (@TimGambleSpeaks), and TruthSocial (@TimGambleSpeaks)
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Here in my little corner of Florida, it's not Pest Control Scammers it's Solar Panel Salesman Scammers. They promise clueless home owners "big savings" on their power bill or you can get "off-the-grid". It's total BS. Here in Florida, you can have your house covered in Solar Panel.......and you still ain't gonna be off the grid. By state law, ALL homes must be on the Grid. You can have Solar Panels, they won't be hooked to a bank of Deep Cycle batteries but you'll be feeding the Electric Company that Solar Power for lowering your electric bill. And when the power goes out because of a Hurricane.......you STILL HAVE NO POWER just like everyone else. So, you blow $20,000 on Solar Panels (that last around 10-15 years) for NO advantage.
ReplyDeleteSo much about so-called "Green Energy" is a scam. And the only thing actually green about it is the money they make off of it.
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