BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe is warning residents about a new scam that’s popped up that’s targeting seniors.
When the men are up on the roof, they damage the roof and demand payment for the repairs, Wagstaffe said.
A group of men, possibly of Irish descent, have been showing up at people’s homes in vehicles with decals for fake roofing companies, offering free or low-cost inspections or simple repairs.
Police in San Mateo, Palo Alto and Belmont are working on cases.
Another instance of this sort of scam occurred in Foster City. Since no case had been sent to his office yet, he did not have the details as to how much these fake roofers were charging.
Information was not immediately available from Palo Alto or Belmont police yesterday. The notice from Wagstaffe’s office also says similar scams have occurred in Albany and San Francisco. Because these scams are happening to senior citizens and in multiple counties, his office decided to put out a warning about the scam, Wagstaffe said.
“It’s a miserable thing to do to elderly people,” Wagstaffe said.
Wagstaffe advises that if someone comes to your door offering to do work on your home, either turn them away or check to see if the contractor has a valid license on the Contractors State License Board website: cslb.ca.gov.
The Telegraph newspaper in the UK listed the roofing scam as the No. 1 fraud in Ireland.
On what basis or evidence were the scammers “possibly of Irish descent”? The shamrock picture as the image of the article, really? I doubt the Post would publish a story with the title “fake roofers, possibly of Jewish descent…” with a Star of David image.
Alvin wants to be thought of as a victim. How pathetic!
Alvin, calm down.
I think it’s because the roofers have Irish accent so it’s good to know what to watch for.
Evidence of Irish accents? Doesn’t say that in the article.
Nice to see some DIVERSITY in crime. For a while it’s been illegal migrants, “youth”/“young men”/“teens”. Now the Irish are adding to the mix.
Gypsies…been doin’ it since the ’70’s.
That’s partly it. I think it’s first of all bad journalism to assume the Irish are involved in the scam without backing it up with any credible evidence, such as eyewitnesses or victims of the scam. Who in the article said it was possibly the Irish and why?
Also, there appears to be a double standard when the piece assumes Irish and adds a clover image, but when it comes to crimes committed by certain minorities – when we have actual names and photos of the suspect in custody – the media (not necessarily the Daily Post) omit the race of the suspect in the article.
Finally Alvin is admitting his racist tendencies. Or maybe they cut off his meds at the hospital.
Observer, you’re using a age old typical tactic of accusing of someone being “racist” when nothing they said or wrote is remotely racist. How is it racist to point out there’s a double standard in the media? It would be racist to not acknowledge it. I think you very well know what I’m talking about.
I would never hire someone that came to my door, licensed or not. Legitimate businesses advertise wisely. Targeting the elderly is sad.