Beware of windowwashing wannabes
An Okanagan Falls retiree is warning others after being preyed upon for his generosity earlier this month.
Gerhard Kletke said a man came to his door Aug. 17 and, after spinning a yarn about being a down-on-his-luck, unemployed equipment operator, offered to wash Kletke’s windows for $50.
“I allowed him to do it. He just had a little bucket, like a four-litre bucket, and a piece of cloth and washed them down,” said Kletke.
“It wasn’t 100 per cent like a professional job, but it was good enough.”
The man took the $50 — plus a $5 tip — and went on his way, only to return Aug. 22, when he asked to borrow $50, ostensibly to buy work boots for a job he’d been offered.
“That was a Friday night and he was supposed to pay it back the following Wednesday,” said Kletke. “He never showed up.” Kletke felt confident the man, who appeared to be in his mid-20s and was heavily tattooed, would return, since he’d left behind a phone number along with what he said was his name and the name of his grandmother in Salmo.
“Had I within the next couple of days or so checked the number before he came back, I would have known it was a scam,” said Kletke.
The man listed his name as Jared Flemming and his grandmother’s as Susan Flemming, along with the phone number 250-357-2499, which is registered to a Susan Flemming in Salmo, according to an online listing.
No one answered when the Herald called this week, and no one replied to a message left on the number’s voice mail.
Kletke suggested people think twice before agreeing to pay strangers for odd jobs — and especially before lending them money afterwards.
Penticton RCMP spokesman Const. James Grandy said he’s not aware of anyone else being swindled in the same manner, but suggested caution any time money is involved.
“It is difficult to warn and educate the public without simply telling the public not to donate their time and money to anyone at any time,” Grandy said in an email.
“I suppose it maybe is safer to donate one’s money and time to a local non-profit, instead of to an individual.”
Meanwhile, police issued a separate warning this week about a more common phone scam currently underway in which a person calls and claims to be from Microsoft technical support and wants access to the intended victim’s computer. The scam artist then demands payment in the form of untraceable gift cards. Microsoft does not do business that way.
If you’ve fallen victim to that scam, or any other, call your local RCMP detachment or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.