ST. LOUIS – People around the St. Louis and Metro East have reported bogus phone calls asking that they give up their personal information.
Geraldine Caldwell-Phillips said a local number called her in May. A man named Michael was on the other line. He said he was with Missouri Services.
"He told me that, because, there were a lot of storms in this area, that they were contacting all of the constituents to see if they needed repairs on their roof and they would work diligently with them and their insurance company,” Phillips explained.
She stayed on the line, but proceeded with caution.
"He first asked me, do I have homeowner’s insurance, before we hung up and I said, ‘yes,’ and he said, ‘can I have your company's name?’ and I said ‘no’"
When Phillips suggested to “Michael” that she call him back, he gave her a generic (1-888) phone number. He told her that someone would meet her at her home at 9 a.m. the next day. Phillips hung up and called her homeowners insurance company, who said, with certainty that this was a scam.
"She said, ‘thank god you were smart enough,’ and I said, ‘yeah, but I was asleep, so they almost got me.’"
When Phillips posted the fishy phone conversation to Facebook, similar stories started pouring into the comments.
“Another said, ‘well, I already got a new roof, why are you calling me?’ and they said, ‘well, we thought you would have storm damage.’"
Phillip advice is, "I'll question them instead of them questioning me, so you take charge of that situation, and that scares them away because they think you suspect something."
5 On Your Side reached out to the BBB, who said just because someone calls you and says there is a problem, that does not mean that there is actually a problem.
If you do have storm damage, get a third party to check it out, and then file a claim with your insurance company and see if the repairs are covered.
Also, always check out the company before they do any kind of work on your house.
