New Home Owners – Beware of Legit Looking Scams

I bought my first home about two months ago. In that amount of time, I've been amazed at how many pieces of mail that I've gotten that look legitimate, but upon further inspection are just sneaky ways to part me with my money.

From letters telling me that I need to perform a title search (for the low price of $90) to postcards like the one above, it just goes to show that if you don't recognize a company name or if something makes you feel uncomfortable, it probably isn't on the level.

Thankfully, I Googled DMC Services in Deltona, FL, the name on the front of that postcard, as well as the phone number of 866-209-2989 before I called the number. It turns out that the "important package" that they have been "trying to deliver" is a bottle of laundry detergent. All that you have to do is agree to have someone come to your house for a "free water quality test" from a company called Environmental Concepts (which, if you Google it, there's no company called Environmental Concepts that does water quality testing, at least that I could find). I can only assume that the results of this "test" will of course be terrible and they'll naturally tell you that you need an expensive water filtration system.

UPDATE
I actually just called the number and spoke to the "dispatch representative". Just to be safe I gave them a fake name and a fake address, and they said "yes sir, I have the delivery information on your package right here". Once I started asking questions, can I speak to a supervisor, etc, the representative got tripped up and started stammering. He asked for my phone number so they could call me back, I asked instead for the number of the supervisor, who he said was "in a meeting". He told me to call the same number back. When I asked the name of the manager I should ask for, he hesitated for a moment and said, "it's umm, J--Jennifer". I asked her last name and he said, "umm, you can just put L, Jennifer L". At that point I decided to let the guy off the hook and thanked him and hung up. But it basically went to prove - there is no "important package" that anybody has been "trying to deliver".

So basically, if it looks sketchy, it probably is. Remember, a home sale is public record, and there are companies who's whole business is to search public records for easy marks. Take everything with a grain of salt and always read the fine print.

Have you gotten a postcard like this or another letter that looked important at first but ended up being not what it seemed? Tell us about it in the comments!

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