Police in North Bay say people in the city have been dealing with a suspected scammer.
Despite tougher laws established in March by Queen's Park to help deter door-to-door sales and fraud, one man in north bay has been making rounds, knocking on neighbourhood doors, looking for money, telling a sad story and offering to do work.
John Schultz is Special Constable with North Bay Police Service.
"What he was doing was showing up looking to offer odd jobs to people for cash payment. He did mention that he had a sick kid and the kid needed some hospital treatments and he needed to take the cash as part of the deal and then he never showed up to do the work." said Constable Schultz.
The province has now banned many industries, such as duct cleaning and air conditioning repairs among others, from conducting transactions door-to-door. They are now only allowed to leave pamphlets.
Ron Melnyk is a bylaw officer for City of North Bay andsays there are certain businesses allowed to solicit door-to-door and they should be easily identifiable.
"They do require a license, so what they have to have on them is a copy of that license and they have to have identification.” said Melnyk.
Police say, as a homeowner, you must be vigilant, know your rights and protect yourself.
"It's your property and you’re right to ask them for ID. Ask them for photo ID, what company do they represent? And if you're not getting a good feeling, you are the property owner and it's within your rights to say ‘leave my property and leave now.’ If they aren't going to do that, then it's time to call police." said Constable Schultz.
According to statistics from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Agency, door-to-door fraud has cost consumers across the province over a million dollars annually over the past three years.
While police say the issue isn't as prevalent as it is in larger cities, it's important for homeowners to recognize signs of fraud and protect them from it.
