Walloon Brabant is currently being hit by roof defoaming fraud, a type of scam that is making a comeback as the warm weather approaches, provincial police zones said Monday in a joint statement.
Pseudo defoamers and roof repairers are now rampant in the province. Faced with this phenomenon, the Walloon Brabant police wish to raise awareness among the population, including the elderly, who are a prime target of the fraudsters.
“While this scam is not new, it is coming back with the good weather,” the police said. “The perpetrators show up at the homes of rather elderly victims and manage to convince them that the roof of their home is damaged or needs to be defoamed, by presenting them with a piece of tile that they say comes from the roof.”
The sums the scammers demand to carry out the work are staggering, often exceeding €1,000.
The fake professionals use card readers with which they withdraw more money than the sum initially planned and announced. They also make several withdrawals, claiming that the first attempts failed.
Some crooks also find pretexts to enter the home and, while one perpetrator distracts the victim, another searches the premises for money and valuables to steal.
Among other tips, the Walloon Brabant police are inviting the public to report these acts, provide them with a description of the perpetrators, and take down the registration numbers of their vehicles.
