BBB Atlantic says one of the reasons home improvement scams have been on the rise is due to demand for home improvement services in the Nova Scotia market
Nova Scotians are being warned about a rising number of home improvement scams.
Last week, the Better Business Bureau released its annual Scam Tracker Risk Report, which showed home improvement frauds now top the list of Canada’s riskiest scams.
According to the report, home improvement scams reported by Canadians in 2022, moved up to the top ranking from the fourth spot in 2021.
As marketing manager for BBB Atlantic, Kristin Matthews, tells CityNews Halifax, residents in Nova Scotia should learn what to look out for.
“If you have someone coming to your door and they want cash only and they are kind of getting into high pressure sales tactics — so trying to get you to agree with no contract,” she says. “Those are some high red flags.”
Matthews also suggests Nova Scotia homeowners get references and ensure contractors have identification, licensing and insurance before having any work begin.
She adds contractors should be willing to offer references from previous work, noting BBB Atlantic lists legitimate contractors and assigns letter grades according to customer satisfaction.
She says one of the reasons home improvement scams have been on the rise is due to demand for those services in the Nova Scotia market.
To read the full version of BBB’s Scam Tracker Risk Report, visit here.