Water Dept. Imposters Robbing Local Residents

There’s another scam, involving purported water department workers, impacting local residents, according to several police departments in the Merrimack Valley.

The latest scam warning from police centers on reports from Lawrence Police of two men who allegedly posed as water department workers and asked an elderly woman if they could check her home’s water pressure. Police said while one suspect distracted the woman, the other allegedly stole hundreds of dollars in cash from an unattended pocketbook.

Police advise anyone who is confronted with a scenario such as this one to call their local police to confirm if the people at the door are really municipal workers. If there is any suspicion, residents should request a police response to the home. Police note that real municipal employees should have some identification and would be driving vehicles clearly marked as city vehicles.

Here is the complete warning as posted by Andover Police Department:

Scam Warning

Lawrence Police recently released this information about a scam perpetrated against an elderly woman by two men posing as water department workers. The public is urged to be wary of such schemes.

The woman was home alone in the early afternoon one day last week when she saw two small pickup trucks pull up in front of her house. A man got out of one of the trucks, walked up to her front door, and knocked. When the woman came to the door, the suspect claimed he worked for the local water department and needed to check the water pressure at the home. The woman and the suspect went downstairs to her washing machine and turned it on. The suspect watched the washing machine for a while, and told the woman he could sell her waterproofing material.

While this was going on, another male voice asked the suspect, over the phone or a two-way radio, if he was almost done. The suspect replied that he would be right out, and told the woman he would leave his card upstairs on the way out. By the time the woman got back upstairs, her purse had been moved, an estimated $950 was missing, and no business card had been left. The suspects, of course, had left.

The suspect who was seen was a white male, approximately in his 40s, with a dark beard. He was wearing black gloves. Two other men were believed to be in the trucks.

Anyone confronted with a scenario such as this one should call their local police to confirm if the people at the door are really municipal workers. If there is any suspicion, residents should request a police response to the home. Please note that real municipal employees should have some identification and would be driving vehicles clearly marked as city vehicles.