{"id":197604,"date":"2026-02-28T04:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197604\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T04:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:24:09","slug":"berkeley-pd-warns-of-latest-elder-scam-bogus-roofing-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197604\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley PD warns of latest elder scam: Bogus roofing problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"BPD has warned Berkeleyans: Watch out for scammers who pretend to notice small problems with your roof or chimney. Credit: Pete Rosos for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n

Berkeley police say groups of sophisticated traveling scam artists have been targeting older residents for bogus home repairs, at times taking their marks for hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

An email alert from the Berkeley Police Department Friday<\/a> said there had been a \u201cpattern\u201d of scammers \u201ctargeting vulnerable homeowners with fraudulent roofing and masonry services.\u201d Police did not say how many such incidents have been reported in Berkeley.<\/p>\n

The scammers generally work in groups, drive white work trucks and wear professional-looking gear, according to the alert. They knock on doors, claiming they were \u201cjust in the neighborhood\u201d and \u201cspotted immediate, dangerous damage\u201d to their victim\u2019s roof or chimney.<\/p>\n

The scammers claim they can fix the issue quickly for a small fee but, once on the roof, create actual damage, \u201csuch as removing structural blocks or cutting holes,\u201d according to the alert. Then they press the victim to pay them cash to fix the damage they inflicted. Police said victims have lost between $10,000 and $450,000 to these scams.<\/p>\n

The alert warned Berkeleyans to ignore unsolicited door-to-door offers, especially those involving special rates; workers who pressure clients for cash; or anyone who can\u2019t produce credentials like solicitor\u2019s permits or state contractor\u2019s licenses. They advise residents to seek second opinions, verify licenses<\/a> and report suspicious activity to BPD\u2019s non-emergency line, 510-981-5900.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a predatory crime that exploits the trust of our most vulnerable neighbors,\u201d BPD Detective Sgt. Jeremey Lathrop wrote in a prepared statement. \u201cWe urge all residents to talk to their elderly family members and neighbors about these tactics. Do not let anyone on your roof without a verified contract and license.\u201d<\/p>\n

“*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Avatar\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlex N. Gecan joined Berkeleyside in 2023 as a senior reporter covering public safety. He has covered criminal justice, courts and breaking and local news for The Middletown Press, Stamford Advocate and…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore by Alex N. Gecan\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BPD has warned Berkeleyans: Watch out for scammers who pretend to notice small problems with your roof or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7872,28618,50573,2465,2466,143,145,144,8763,28489],"class_list":["post-197604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-berkeley-police-department","tag-crime-trends","tag-elder-abuse","tag-home-highlight","tag-home-lead","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-policing","tag-scams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}