Chief Michael Ricciardelli and the Saugus Police Department would like to alert the community of a group of construction scammers who steal from the elderly.
On June 9th, a concerned citizen called the Saugus Police Department about unnecessary work being done at his neighbors home. When detectives began investigating, they discovered a group of workers known as “Irish Travelers” had promised an elderly woman they would perform repairs to her deck. As work had commenced the workers told the victim they needed to do additional “foundation repairs.” When police responded, the victim had paid the workers over $100k. “Irish Travelers” work primarily in construction, targeting older, unwitting, senior citizen homeowners to perform unnecessary repairs to their homes. Once the men receive payment up-front to begin work, they find additional tasks needed at a higher cost. The construction crews generally have a false company name, addresses, names, and email. In addition, all the work is not permitted and by the time police arrive the home owner is scammed thousands of dollars based on these sham transactions. Many times victims are forced to pay another contractor to fix the work performed by the travelers.
The scammers have hit other communities in and around the Boston area, anyone with information is asked to call police.