2월 8일 (월) Beware of the Con Artist!

Beware of the Con Artist! Okay... here's the situation: You want to fix up your house a little bit. So you hire a company to redo the wallpaper, replace some of the light fixtures, and make a few cosmetic changes to a room. You and the company both agree to get the job done by the end of the month. That's the day will pay the company. On the last day of the month, 95% of the work is done. There is some garbage in bags near the door. The wallpaper is looking good, but it needs a few more hours of work. The floor needs to be glued in one spot. Also, they are working on the last light fixture as you go to meet the workers for the last time. The final meetings goes well. The "president" of the company is there and promises that all well be complete in a few hours. And he says the company cleaning crew will take the garbage away in the morning. So, happy with the work and confident that your house will be 100% new-looking and clean by the morning, you pay the guy and take your family out to a long lunch to celebrate. After the meal, you return home and find that the guy just left. As soon as you paid him, his crew stopped working and left. The house is EXACTLY how you left it several hours ago. You call him, but he doesn't answer his phone. You call the office, but they say he's unavailable. The next day no cleaning crew comes. Then you think, "Why did I pay him the rest of the money? I should have waited until it was 100% done!!!" So, what's the next step? How long should you try to reach the guy? Should you report the guy to somebody? Should you just forget about it because you are afraid he might be a bad guy of some kind? What would YOU do? TALK ABOUT IT 1 Have you ever been the victim of a scam? 2 Have you ever been in a situation like this? 3 What are some common scams? 4 What do you think of people who scam others? 5 What measures can you take to avoid being tricked or scammed by people you are doing business with? 6 How important is it to have the terms of an agreement in writing? 7 When is a verbal contract sufficient? 8 What can you do to help protect others against scams? 9 Have you ever had to call the police or pursue legal action because of a scam?