Homeowners in Christchurch, England, have come to suspect that a helpful handyman pointing out broken roof tiles is breaking them. The scam works like this: the handyman offers to perform a relatively trivial task like cleaning gutters, then reports the need for roof repairs, which as luck would have it can be completed on the spot. The Bournemouth Daily Echo:
"I would like to take this opportunity to warn the public about door-to-door scams involving people selling goods or services that are either not delivered or are very poor quality. … We would always advise against accepting work from doorstep traders. If you think a job needs doing, we suggest getting multiple quotes from reputable traders and take time to think it over."Police Constable Sian Maynard, of Dorset Police, said: "We believe these incidents are linked and the man involved is suspected of purposefully damaging a roof tile in order to ask for a large sum of money to carry out repairs.
If only all those surveillance cameras pointed up instead of down.