Delaware State Police gives advice on how to prevent fraud
After the arrest of Frederick Maahs, a general contractor accused of felony home improvement fraud on four different counts, Delaware State Police say defrauding the elderly happens frequently.
Shirley Washington says she was one of Maahs’ victims. She contacted Maahs to do yard work and to fix a leaky roof.
Despite paying over $600, she says Maahs did none of the work. Washington tells 47 ABC when first meeting Maahs, he seemed very professional. After she gave him the money, Maahs claimed he could not do any of the work due to the poor weather outside. Washington says weeks went by and she noticed her check had been cashed. She claims she started to get frustrated and kept calling him.
Washington states that one day she finally got a hold of him but he gave her an excuse. Washington says, “He showed me a picture of his “shop” that had been burned to the ground. And he said that’s why he hadn’t called me. And, of course, my window was in this shop that was burned down.” Washington tells us after that, he still did not come by to do any of the work in the upcoming weeks and she told him she was reporting him to the police.
Delaware state police say Washington isn’t the only victim and that Maahs defrauded a number of elderly Delawareans. Detective Timothy Shockley says it’s not uncommon for older folks to be targeted.
Shockley says elders are very trusting and suspects tend to believe they have enough money to do repairs and home improvements.
Shockley recommends to thoroughly go over the contract to make sure everything is correct. He also states to keep detailed records of everything throughout the process, that way if something suspicious happens police have concrete evidence to work off of.
Shockley’s main advice is, “Go over the contractor to make sure that you know you see his work. Go to his job sight that he’s working on, or she’s working on. And to look at that work that he or she is doing.”
State Police remind residents who think they may be the victim of fraud of any sort to call police right away.
