Pineapplesmoother
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He made a post on a local Facebook group saying that he has a local vent cleaning business but might be closing due to financial hardship. He was replying to comments and everything seemed kosher from his post. We needed this service already and I figure instead of going to a big business I’d help someone local.
ziralien
Probably a scam.
PMAW
All duct cleaning is a scam.
LitterBoxKing
What does Yelp say about the business name? The BBB? Do they have a website? Do names, addresses, and phone numbers match across those sources? Etc.
djhash
watch this about this scam.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_FMXc7F_bM
Pineapplesmoother
Thanks for this! This was my main reason for posting. I was like 99% sure it was a scam but I just couldn’t figure out the angle. After watching… idk if I’d call it a scam because at the end you still get the work done but it’s definitely scummy and dishonest.
charondaboatman
Lol, “A negative pressure machine” is a goddamned vacuum cleaner. Better safe than sorry.
Valkor
yeah and if you say "vacuum cleaner" people will think you're shoving a hoover down the vents when that aint at all how they do it.
charondaboatman
Well, kinda. Rubber balls on the end of a long flexible drill shaft running down a duct with a complete seal on all the vents and a seal over the end with a hole big enough to run a VACUUM hose through it with “global” suction head on it. Beat the shit out of the duct and suck up all the debris and dust with the VACUUM. The major player in the whole process is, guess what? A VACUUM. Lol.
Serkus
Trust your gut. If it feels like a scam, it probably is. At least all you've given them so far is your name, full address, and phone number.
Pineapplesmoother
Yeah I was thinking that I already messed up but honestly all that info is already public. When buying this house I googled the sellers name and found basically the names of his whole family, all of his and his wife’s past addresses and his new address, and every phone number he’s ever had (including his current one)
Serkus
Spooky.
Pineapplesmoother
Lmao very
Apothecarius
I live down the ways from you. (fuck you lasaaann) and that seems suspicious as fuck. This is through facebook marketplace right? He has to be able to access his facebook account to send messages. This 'aint adding up.
Pineapplesmoother
Oh damn yeah. At first I was thinking that his Facebook got hacked but he still has access to his messenger app but he posted on a semi private Facebook group on his Facebook account lmao
Apothecarius
Definitely a hacked account, fishing for customer info. Luckily you didn't send them anything too personal yet.
Pineapplesmoother
All I want is for someone to suck up all my dirt 😩 about to say fuck it and just go with some big name company instead of “shopping local”
Apothecarius
Anderson Heating and Cooling is good, but I don't know if they have anything out that far west. I'm like, just far enough east of you, that I'm not sure what companies work in your area. Sorry bud.