LETHBRIDGE, AB – If you’ve received a message about duct cleaning services, you might want to think twice before you accept any offers.

Lethbridge Duct Cleaning (LDC) is sending out a warning to its customers that may have been impacted by a recurring scam.

General Manager Mindy Hellwig told Lethbridge News Now that earlier this month, a resident of Hanna called LDC saying she had been contacted on Facebook about duct cleaning services.

The offer came from an account listed under a personal name. When the woman became suspicious, Hellwig said she asked for references on this individual’s business. The unknown individual referred to Lethbridge Duct Cleaning – Hellwig said the person is no way involved with LDC. This prompted the Hanna resident to contact Hellwig and the team at LDC to inform them of the situation.

“They don’t work for us; they’ve never worked for us. Just when she started questioning [the alleged scammer], he eventually just went away. When she confronted to say, ‘we checked you out and you’re not affiliated with these people’…the Facebook page was all of a sudden closed,” Hellwig told LNN.

LDC looked into the situation and as they did, Hellwig said they started to receive more emails and phone calls about this particular individual that had contacted the Hanna homeowner.

LDC then reported the incident to police, who are investigating the situation as fraud.

Unfortunately, Hellwig said they’ve been made aware of instances involving someone under a different name to the one who contacted the Hanna resident.

CONCERNS FOR CONSUMERS

Hellwig said the people offering these services may in fact be qualified to organize duct cleaning, but she still has concerns for homeowners, especially when the individuals are using LDC’s name as a reference.

“As a consumer I would be aware of ‘what if something happened in your home?’ When we do duct cleaning, we’re going into your ductwork, which is underneath drywall ceiling, things like that – what if something broke? What if they injured themselves on your property, what if you got injured on the property? How do you pay? I would definitely not pre-pay,” she said.

“There’s no recourse – there’s not a business number to call and that’s my big concern is there’s no recourse. If they’re trying to promote someone else’s business as a front for their business, that should be an alarm right there I think.”

Source: https://bit.ly/38VOQFj