Arlington police charge Boston man for yet another home improvement scam

Criminal offense

Table of Contents

Toggle

This is the second time this 7 days that Arlington police have arrested somebody for a household improvement fraud.

For the 2nd time this 7 days, Arlington police billed a male for scamming a resident working with a frequent dwelling advancement plan.

Jack Clarke, 23, of Boston, was charged with larceny by wrong pretenses in excess of $1,200, destructive destruction of residence more than $1,200, conspiracy, and unlicensed procedure of a motor auto.

On Saturday, Jan. 14, Arlington police were contacted by a resident who believed he was the target of a property advancement rip-off, Arlington police claimed in a news release Wednesday.

The target informed police that two adult males, a single of whom was later discovered as Clarke, quoted him $14,500 to paint his basement. When the gentlemen begun their function on the victim’s basement, they allegedly wrecked portion of the basement basis and then convinced the target to shell out them $68,000 for repairs, police stated.

In this case, the suspects delivered the victim with what seemed to be a business contract. Bogus business enterprise contracts can enable scammers search like a respectable business, law enforcement stated.

The target in the long run wrote numerous checks for a part of the full total. These checks were allegedly cashed by Clarke, law enforcement reported.

On Jan. 17, the victim alerted law enforcement that Clarke experienced returned to the victim’s residence to acquire equipment and other components he left in the victim’s basement. Police ended up then able to positively discover Clarke as the scammer and positioned him under arrest, law enforcement stated.

Via their investigation, law enforcement reported, they identified that Clarke was also allegedly driving without the need of a license.

Clarke was arraigned in Cambridge District Courtroom on Tuesday and introduced on individual recognizance bail.

On Friday, Arlington police arrested three adult men for using the very same scam on an aged resident.

Arlington law enforcement say that the fraud utilised in both of those situations is a prevalent rip-off for which the aged are generally qualified.

Normally, a scammer will obtain a property in require of fix and give the homeowner a extremely reduced rate to deal with the issue. Then, the scammer will problems the household and quote the house owner a much increased price.

The scammer finishes by convincing the focus on to spend for the new repairs upfront, promising to finish the work afterwards, but does not return to restore the dwelling.

Suggestions for steering clear of cons:

• Scammers may method opportunity victims for property improvement frauds by cellular phone, electronic mail, or doorway-to-doorway
• Scammers generally estimate prospective victims unreasonably very low selling prices for the products and services they’re giving
• Check to make sure the contractor is registered with the Business office of Client Affairs and Small business Regulation by employing its house improvement contractor registration seem up company
• Be wary if the personal is driving an unmarked motor vehicle
• Normally request a duplicate of the contractor’s standard agreement
• Talk to regardless of whether the contractor will present a warranty and how very long that guarantee will previous
• Scammers may claim they’ve been doing do the job locally and have surplus material
• Constantly request a company card or web site for the contractor’s business
• By no means pay back a lot more than one-third of the whole price tag of support upfront, and only do so once you have confirmed that this man or woman is a registered dwelling advancement contractor and you have a agreement

Anyone who thinks they could have fallen target to any kind of scam is encouraged to speak to the Arlington Law enforcement Section at 781-643-1212, or get hold of their nearby law enforcement section.