Vulnerable seniors, who spend the majority of their time at home, are perfect targets for the mobile scam artist. Smooth-talking fraudsters can convincingly get themselves invited inside to deliver any imaginable sales pitch for products or services. Common among these are the home repair, door-to-door scams.

Home repair scam operators appear unannounced at the home and then proceed to "discover" one or a series of "defects" with the house, from shoddy roofing, to cracked driveways, to dangerous electrical wiring or plumbing. Believing these bogus claims, the victim pays the con-artist a down-payment on repairs.

Predictably, the down-payment goes to a job that is never or only partially completed. Sometimes the fraudulent repair person causes damage to the house-using their screwdriver to puncture a hole in a heating duct, for example-in order to document the need for their repair services.

Also be aware of anyone claiming to be an inspector from your local utility company. This individual may claim to be conducting a routine inspection and may request to see your fuse box, furnace, or water meter. Upon ‘inspection’, this person informs you that a number of regulations are being violated and that certain repairs are necessary to ensure continuance of your water, natural gas, or hydro-electricity. The inspector then gives you the name of someone who is able to do the job on short notice at a reasonable price. In actual fact, there is nothing wrong with your utilities and the inspector and the friend will split any profit from your ‘repairs.'

In one "Water Department" scam the con would just call and tell an elderly female victim that he needed to do official repairs and it would cost thousands. The next day he would show up at the intended victim's residence and obtain a check for services that were never rendered.

Door-to-door scam operators are usually friendly and appear sincere in their desire to help. Their intention, however, is to find a vulnerable senior-invariably one who suffers from loneliness, Alzheimer's or another dementia, loss of sight or hearing-which would make them susceptible to heavy-handed selling or intimidation. Once a potential victim is identified, a scam operator will make repeat visits to the home, each time pressing the sale one step further. It is not uncommon for seniors to finally agree to purchase an item that they do not need resulting in an obligation to pay a bill that totals several thousands of dollars.

Taken from Crimes of Persuasion by Les Henderson - Reprinted with permission

*Before selecting a contractor to perform any type of work, you should verify that the contractor is licensed to do the requested work in your city or county. You should also consider requesting references of previous completed jobs. Contacting your local Better Business Bureau or State Attorney General’s Office may also provide some feedback on your selected contractor.