Guilford Police Issue Scam Alert - But This One Is a Bit Unusual

GUILFORD, CT - Usually its customers that are being warned about scam artists but Guilford police are warning contractors to be on the look out for scam customers.

On their Facebook page, Guilford police issue this warning:

"We have investigated a few reports of home renovation contractors being defrauded by scammers posing as customers.... "FAKE CUSTOMERS"

"Of the cases we have received, the contractors have been contacted via phone by a scammer pretending to need a service; ie a kitchen remodel or bathroom remodel. The scammer then discusses the needs of their "fake" property and the contractor drafts a preliminary contract. The scammer pushes the urgency of the project and provides a credit card number over the phone for the contractor to deposit. The scammer provides an additional monetary amount for the contractor to transfer to their project designer or mover (usually several thousand dollars more).

"The credit card will deposit the money in the contractor's account immediately and the contractor then takes the remaining amount and transfers the money to the account of the "fake" project designer's account or "fake" mover's account as directed by the scammer.

"At that point, the amount transferred to the fake accounts is removed immediately and the contractor is scammed out the money they transferred out. The bank then charges the contractor for the money they transferred to the "fake" account and the remaining amount is removed from the account.

"These scammers are attacking everyone and come up with new scams daily. It is difficult to know what is real and what is fake especially when you are trying to run your own business.

"Real clients don't try to pay you over the phone without ever having you price out their project. They don't ever pay you over the amount you are asking. They also don't ask you to transfer funds to another third party you are not engaged in a contract with.

"NOTE: This scam is also used on landlords trying to rent properties and other similar circumstances."