Authorities in Iowa City are warning residents who suffered damage to their property in last week’s tornado — the next thing they may hear is a pitch from someone offering home repairs at a price too good to be true. Sergeant Doug Hart says there are two basic kinds of ripoff scheme at a time like home-repair or business-repair scams, and there are also people who’ll solicit donations for storm cleanup.
He says they may come around in person, call you on the phone or seek donations on the Internet. He hasn’t seen any reports yet, but wants to get out the word because once a person pays out money for phoney repair promises, it’s very hard to get it back. He says these are tough fraud cases to prosecute.
The Sergeant says a high-pressure sales pitch should be one tipoff the repair contractor’s not on the level. The door-to-door salesman will tell you it’s a one-time thing, or try to put a deadline date on their offer. Hart says any high-pressure sales tactics should be your warning.