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Beware of utility worker scams

By Rich Kinsey

A few weeks ago, I wrote about driveway resurfacing and barn painting scams.

These are just a few of the scams perpetrated on victims who are absolutely innocent. Especially vulnerable are those who live alone and have problems getting around their home quickly.

These scams involve distraction and theft, and one such incident took place in Chelsea several years ago.

These scams involve fake utility workers, and starts with an official-looking person wearing a hardhat, high visibility vest and perhaps carrying a clipboard for good measure.

“Hello sir or ma’am. I’m from the water department and we need to check your sewer lines to prevent you from having a messy back-up, like we had down the street.”—or—“I’m a private contractor hired by the power company and we need to check your electrical service box. There have been some issues in the area that could potentially cause a fire.”

These are the two most common, but it could be a cable guy, phone company, gas company or any utility that could cause a problem if not attended to quickly.

The worried homeowner does not want a sewer back-up, fire, or any other possible utility disaster to befall them, so they let this utility worker into the home.

And that’s where the problem starts.

The utility selected by the con artist is usually in the basement, attic or some other out-of-the-way portion of the home. The fake utility worker goes into that area with homeowner in tow or they find a problem and invite the resident to come see for themselves.

Once the victim is away from the front door, the second suspect, working with fake utility worker “front man,” enters the home and starts looking for items to steal.

The second suspect has the full run of the house, because even if the victim hears footsteps on the other floor, the front man will get more animated showing the resident the “problem.”

If the resident persists about the noises in the home from the second suspect, the front man will merely dismiss the noise as their partner who has “been drinking coffee all morning” and probably had to use the bathroom.

“Oh yeah, that’s probably just old Chuck,” the front man says with a chuckle, “I warned him not to eat those questionable egg salad sandwiches.”

In the meantime, while the fast-talking is taking place in the basement, “Old Chuck” is looting the rest of the house of all the easily concealed valuables he can stuff in his pockets.

The thief is looking for envelopes—especially bank envelopes—with cash near the desk or bureau, purses on hooks near exits, on the kitchen table or hung on a chair.  Maybe they can find jewelry in ornate boxes on top of dressers or “hidden” in the drawers behind underwear or on a closet shelf behind the sweaters.

If nothing else, perhaps there will be some painkillers in the medicine cabinet to steal.

These thieves are “pros” and they know where to look for your valuables.

Prevent this from happening to you

So how do we prevent such incidents?

First of all, be aware that they can happen and warn your family, friends and neighbors.

Second, do not let unannounced strangers into your home. Or, for that matter, let small children answer the door and allow strangers into the home. This happened to a parent in Chelsea, who suddenly found two aggressive vacuum salesmen in the house who would not leave, until the cops were called.

Know who to call for service. And, still keep an eye on them—but you are much safer because you made the service call.

If, however, someone rings the doorbell or knocks on the door, who you have not called, leave them on the porch and keep them out of your home.

Tell them to come back later after you have confirmed who they are. If in doubt, call the police.

In a small town like Chelsea, if you are in doubt about a utility worker, call the police at 475-9122 or if you are flustered, nervous or scared, call 9-1-1. Chances are the call taker will know the name of the utility worker—by the way, kudos to Chelsea Department of Public Works (DPW) employees for the great job they do around the city.

If the police call taker does not know what jobs the DPW is working on currently, it only takes a call or two to find out. If the call taker still cannot confirm or deny the identity of a utility worker, they can dispatch a police officer to check on it.

Remember in Chelsea, the utility trucks are for the most part all white with orange stripes and have city markings on the door.  A legitimate city utility worker will not be offended if you call the police.

Carrying cell phones, they will probably even call the police themselves, while you are calling, to assure the police that they are legit. There are not that many city employees in Chelsea, and we all know each other.

Lastly, we are a community. Let’s watch out for each other.

If you see someone on a neighbor’s doorstep who you cannot immediately identify, either go check on your neighbor or keep an eye on the situation and call the police.

Tightly knit communities like Chelsea are where these crooks get caught.

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