It was a horrible weekend for many people in parts of the Midwest who are the victims of devastating tornadoes that destroyed homes and property… but not this guy’s spankin’ new PS4.
Someone from the Washington, IL, area just east of Peoria, posted the above photo to Reddit earlier today, claiming that amid all the destruction brought down upon his home (yes, that is a sink hanging from the wall behind him), the PS4 came out untouched.
And we’ll take this opportunity to remind you of two things related to post-tragedy scams.
For people in storm-ravaged areas, there will be home repair scams, usually in the form of walk-up “contractors,” who go door-to-door in the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes and the like, offering their services — often at a discount, and often faster than the time frame you’d get by calling a legitimate contractor.
Some of these door-knockers will actually attempt a repair, though it will be likely be shoddy and done with substandard materials. More often, the person will just take your “deposit” and then never materialize.
So the first thing you should do when hiring a contractor is to check with your state’s Dept. of Consumer Affairs (or Bureau of Consumer Protection, or whatever variation on that them they choose to use) to see if A) the contractor is licensed by the state, and B) if there are any complaints filed against the contractor.
In Illinois, the Attorney General’s office provides this page of information regarding common home repair scams, along with phone numbers for the state’s consumer fraud hotline.
Second, for those of you considering donating money to help people in Illinois or anywhere else hit by devastating storms, <strong>click here to read our guide on how to tell if a charity is the real deal or a scam.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
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