Watch out for door-to-door sales scams in eastern Ontario: OPP

A door-to-door salesman directs someone to sign a contract in this stock image. (Getty)

Police in eastern Ontario are warning about what they call a multi-layered, door-to-door sales scam targeting vulnerable residents in the area.

The fraud is leaving victims with home services they do not need, poor quality renovations and/or a mortgage or lien on their homes, the Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release on Thursday.

Officers add some victims may not even know that the scam has even happened.

The province of Ontario banned some forms of unsolicited door-to-door sales to protect people from aggressive and misleading contractors in 2018. The ban includes air conditioners, air purifiers, duct cleaning, furnaces, water filters or softeners, and water heaters. According to the introduced legislation, businesses can only enter a house if contacted directly by the customer ahead of time.

However, criminals continued to push owners and victims to sign unsolicited contracts, some of which even pretend to be acting on behalf the Ontario government, police say.

The province passed new legislation under the Homeowners Protection Act and the Personal Property Security Act to further address this issue on June 6 this year.

The OPP shares some tips to protect yourself:

• Do not answer your door unless you are expecting an invited guest.
• Take note of the province’s passed legislations, and do not allow unsolicited visitors into your home
• Do not share personal information or copies of any bills or financial statements with door-to-door scammers.
• Do not make impulsive decisions on the spot.
• Do not sign contracts and blank documents, investigate further, and ask questions.
• Do not answer questions on a phone/video call if you are being told the answers by someone else.
• Check regularly on family members who might be vulnerable.
• Ask the bank to take the necessary steps to protect vulnerable family members to prevent fraud.
• Understand that renovations are not free.
• Visit Canada.ca to review green grant opportunities.
• Ask yourself: Why has this person offered to help? How do they know my situation?
• Check your credit history online at TransUnion and Equifax.
• Check your property on the Land Registry Ontario website.
• Install video cameras around your home.

Here are the red flags to keep an eye for:

• The scammer visiting you claims you have won a class-action lawsuit regarding the installation of your equipment and the money can only be used towards renovations to your home.
• The door-to-door scammer tells you "your home is now a ‘green home’ after the installation of some equipment and therefore you qualify for a grant, but the grant must be used to do renovations or add more equipment."
• You are contacted by a financial company – unsolicited – and offered help to get you out of debt.
• You are offered a free renovation job, and are pressured to have renovations started right away.

Anyone who has been victim of fraud is asked to call police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 (toll-free), or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) to remain anonymous.