N. Aurora police warn of home repair scam
Beacon-News Staff January 30, 2013 5:34PM
Updated: March 2, 2013 11:45AM
NORTH AURORA — North Aurora police are warning residents about a recent incident believed to be part of a home repair scam.
Police said that on the morning of Jan. 19, a man came to a home in the 100 block of South River Road and offered to repair the driveway for the 78-year-old resident. The man said he was offering a “new type of coating,” not blacktop, that would repair cracks and resurface the driveway.
He quoted a price of $1,000 for the work and gave the elderly resident fliers with the company name “Father and Son Construction.” He was accompanied by two younger men.
The resident agreed to the repair, but as she wrote a check, the man told her the bill would be $200 more if paid by check, “to cover taxes.” The woman agreed to go to the bank to get cash. As she left for the bank, she wrote down the license plate number of the suspects’ pickup truck
The woman’s adult son stayed home to watch the repairs, police said. The two younger men came into the kitchen asking for hot water for the repairs, and started looking downstairs. They left, however, saying they would come back later to complete the work. They never returned.
No payment was ever made and nothing appeared to be missing from the woman’s home, police said.
The suspects were described as three white males, one about 40 to 50 years old and the other two in their late 20s, police said.
The suspects had a black pickup truck, which the victim’s son said did not have any of the tools that would be needed to resurface a driveway.
A license plate check found the truck was registered to a man who is suspected of home repair and ruse entry scams in the Chicago area, police said.
Police said the woman probably was targeted because of her age. They said the scam was unsuccessful because the woman and her son did not allow the suspects to go into the home unescorted and because the woman wrote down the license plate of the truck.
Information on how to avoid home repair scams is available from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office at www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/homerepair_construction.html.
