*Transient Criminal Advisory*
Please read the following message that was received from our friends from the Pennsylvania State Police Fogelsville barracks. Transient criminals are a very REAL threat to residents in our area. There are residents in our jurisdiction who have fallen prey to their scams, but hopefully, through education, we can let these scam artists know that they are NOT welcome here. Please be sure to read on and share with friends and family.
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To All,
The arrival of spring and the warm weather is a welcome time and looked forward to by most of us.
Unfortunately is also brings with it some headaches—the least of which is pollen and seasonal allergies.
The Pennsylvania State Police would like to take the time to make you all aware of a criminal trend which begins every year about this time and it is a known problem stretching across the United States. This criminal activity seems to slow greatly with the arrival of frost in the fall.
Springtime marks the arrival of the “Gypsies and the Travelers” or Transient Criminals and it is a growing plague. These roaming thieves make an easy living preying on the uninformed and unsuspecting residents—particularly (but not always) the elderly.
These Transient Criminals travel with the seasons. They have organized tight knit families that work well together with a hierarchy that is known and respected within the family. The individual families loosely know about the other criminal groups and they sometimes work with each other. These Transient Criminals will take up residence in our neighborhoods for a period of time but generally they do not commit their crimes within there area of temporary residence, preferring instead to travel a few hours from their home and they victimize people on the trip out and on the way back—but their brethren often travel from their distant homes into our neighborhoods.
Their crimes are many and varied. These Transient Criminals often report to be driveway sealant contractors (or asphalt sealant contractors). They may report that they are home roof repairmen or handyman/ repairmen of any sort. They are also known to be involved with insurance and credit scams as well.
The crimes that are of concern for us at this time are the common scams that we can avoid if we are educated and made aware of the potential of them happening.
Often a Transient Criminal will approach a resident (without having been contacted or solicited by the resident at a prior time). The Transient Criminal will then offer his services to the resident sometimes at a greatly reduced priced (to get a quick agreement) or they will offer their services at a ridiculously high price then appear to negotiate to a much more reasonable price often advising that they overestimated a previous job and now they have leftover material which they need to get rid of and that you (the resident) can help them out and in return they will help you out by lowering the price…this is one of the tactics used to make the agreement. After the agreement is made the criminal quickly secures payment for their promised services. They readily take cash or checks. If a check is used to pay for the promised services, the criminal will often take the resident immediately to the bank and have the victim cash the check for them (this way they stay off of bank cameras). After securing the victim’s cash they often leave the area immediately. If the criminal takes the check himself—he or a partner will immediately drive to the bank and cash the check.
In the event that they actually appear to be working they will use inferior products or they will feign the work and leave the moment the cash is in their hands. (They may spray a black substance onto the driveway which initially looks great but which does not protect the driveway at all and which may wash away after a rainfall or two, or they will report repairing something which the resident may not be able to readily check—like a roof repair or a lightning rod repair.) These are just some examples—the Transient Criminals have many, varied tactics and scams.
Sometimes the Transient Criminal will distract the homeowner and take his attention away from the home while a second (unseen) partner breaks into the home and steals valuable and money while the homeowner is distracted. The Transient Criminal uses many different approaches to distract a homeowner, such as claiming to be a city worker or realtor who needs to inspect the property lines (and he needs the resident to go with him to walk the property line). Or he and the homeowner need to go to the side of the house to inspect the electrical main or out front to inspect the storm drainage or the Transient Criminal advises that he needs to go into the basement (with the homeowner) to inspect any of the utilities down there. The Transient Criminal may utilize a radio or cell phone the entire time he is with the resident—often speaking in a different language. (The Transient Criminal is using the communication device to update his unseen partner as to the resident’s location to avoid detection of the crime.) Again there can be many different variations to their scams.
Some things to look for to avoid being a victim:
The Transient Criminal will contact you about a repair to be made. Typically a homeowner calls a contractor when the need arises. If you, as a homeowner, did not call the contractor for work that you want done at your house—do not engage the person who contacts you. Tell them that you did not ask them for their services and that you do not need them and ask them to leave. If they get insistent—stay strong and tell them to leave. Appear as if you are trying to see their license plate number, tell them you are calling the police. Do not tell them that you are alone. Do not answer questions that may be asked about other people living in the house. Do not let the person into your house. Do not agree to have them do work at your house. Do not make payment to the person in any manner. If you need work done at your house, research local contractors online, speak to friends and relatives who have hired contractors that they are satisfied with and whom they know them to be legitimate business people and then and then take competitive bids from contractors that you have personally researched and contacted. There are many legitimate asphalt/ driveway sealing and home improvement contractors in our area!!! Unfortunately the Transient Criminal tries very hard to appear legitimate—by blending in with the local contractors who are legitimate. RESEARCH/ RESEARCH/ RESEARCH
The Transient Criminal may not have identification or a business card. If a business card is produced—it is often very generic looking with very little information on the card. Ask these people for identification and references. If the business card does not look legitimate or if the person has excuses for the lack of references or local examples of his work… don’t hire the person.
If the person claims to be a city, borough or township employee…Then he should be driving a vehicle that belongs to the local municipality and he may be in uniform. He will have legitimate looking identification--and Most Importantly the resident will most likely have been contacted by phone or by mail regarding the reason for the visit to properly schedule it with the homeowner. Ask for identification and then thoroughly review the credentials offered. You can even tell the person to wait outside while you go back into the house and call the local municipality to confirm the person’s identity.
The Transient Criminals often drive brand new pickup trucks, which are non-descript and very ordinary looking any make or model. If there is a business name advertised it will most likely be on a magnetic stick on decal or the easily removed adhesive stick on decals. The advertisement will be simple, with just a business name and phone number. Often a state contractor’s license number will be on the truck and sometimes the number will be out of state—even the license plate may be an out of state tag. Be very suspect of a contractor who has out of state license plates on his vehicle. (Why is an Asphalt Sealing Contractor from North Carolina or New Jersey looking for work in Pennsylvania?) Look for signs that the vehicle is actually a work truck—often the Transient Criminal will have very few tools and materials in his vehicle (because he does not intent to do any work).
The Transient Criminal is often well dressed and neatly groomed and well spoken. They do this to convince you are their legitimacy. They are in regular communication with another person on a cell phone or other device. Do not let anyone into your house that you have not first contacted and that you have not researched. End the unasked for contact quickly and close and lock your door when going back in—Then check your house to be sure that an “unseen” partner has not entered you home.
Sometimes they arrive with three of four trucks. This is in an effort to convince you that they have a full work crew—“ready to serve you.” The reality is that they often want to involve as many faces and trucks as they can to confuse and distract the homeowner which makes it difficult if not impossible to identify any of them later when the police are contacted.
As previously stated the few examples given above are just that—examples of the many scams and techniques used by the Transient Criminals. They have many approaches, scams, and pitches but the goal is always the same and that is to steal your hard earned money.
Do not fall for the sales pitch where the deal sounds too good to be true. There is no such thing.
Be aware and alert. Tell them to leave if you did not call and ask them to come to your house. Follow your instincts and that “gut feeling”. Ask for proper identification. Tell them to leave if they cannot provide any reasonable request that you make.
Please let your family members and friends—(especially the elderly) know of this plague. They are here and they will steal from you if given the opportunity.
In the event that you think you have been scammed by a Transient Criminal or that you believe that one of them has tried to victimize you, contact the police immediately with any information regarding the persons(s), type of activity and the vehicle(s) involved.
This notification is being made in an effort to educate the area residents in the hopes that we can reduce the chances of any of us becoming victims of these criminals.
Thank You for your time.
Address/Location
Upper Macungie Township Police Department
37 Grim Road
Breinigsville, PA 18031
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 484-661-5911
Peter Nickischer
Criminal Investigations/ Crime Prevention
[email protected]
610-683-8740