AVON, Ohio – The City of Avon is warning residents about a phone scam.
City officials say the solicitors are pretending to be City of Avon and City of Cleveland water and utility officials. The caller is asking residents for permission to entire their homes, potentially to get information about when people are away from home, putting them at risk for theft.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Bob Kwansky of Sheffield Village. “People are doing anything they can to take money away from other people. I think it’s worse than any. I think the economy’s getting worse as far as making it that way and I think that there should be something done about it already.”
Avon Police is trying to pinpoint who is making the calls. On Tuesday alone, about a dozen residents say they were contacted by the alleged scammer.
The Avon Water Department says the unauthorized calls are coming from a 1-877-Number. Thus far, nobody has fallen victim to the scam, but the city worries that elderly residents are at risk.
“You can even walk around with a iPhone without it getting stolen,” Kwanksy said. “That’s ridiculous because people that are elderly can’t protect themselves. How can you see an older man or an older woman going down and all of the sudden get knocked on their head.”
The Avon Water Department says, in an online warning to residents, that people should not give access to their homes or divulge any personal information over the phone. If anyone suspects they are being targeted by a scammer, they should contact police.
“They really need something better to do with their time than take advantage of innocent people,” said Susan Johnson of Avon. “I don’t really believe half of what people say anyway. If it’s too good to be true, it usually is. That’s always my rule of thumb.”
The police department has warned residents about the scam via “Code Red,” its reverse 9-1-1 emergency system.
To sign up for Code Red, click here.
To read the City of Avon’s original warning, click here.
I certainly agree with Ms. Johnson. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
This is why when I get anonymous call and find it suspicious, I hang up and report the phone number to callercenter.com right away, in an attempt to raise a warning and expose the scammer’s phone number.