poss. scam in TV
 

do not know how true this is....it is worth passing around.....one of my neighbors sent this to me.

SUDDEN POWER LOSS?

Pay attention, I'm serious. My neighbor's entire house electricity went out. In a few minutes a young man was at the door and told her he was working on a house up the street and saw smoke from her outside electrical box. He offered to look at it and to fix whatever was wrong. Luckily she is one of my friends and had the presence of mind to refuse his offer and called me. I checked everything out and found nothing wrong except the master circuit breakers were tripped. I'm not a professional electrician, but I have an electrical degree from the USNA and many years in Navy electrical mishaps.
I concluded that the kid must have been up to something and asked my neighbor to call the police; which she did. She was told that officers would be right out as there had been other complaints just like hers. It turns out this kid has been active throughout the Villages and has dunned several gullible persons out of cash and caused damage by tripping their outside circuit breakers.

Now, If you see, hear or experience anything like this, delay him if possible and get the police out---they want to catch him in the act if they can. If he leaves, see if you can get his license plate number---although he usually parks on another street or down the block.

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing!

And just where are these outside circuit breakers? The only thing I know of outside that anyone can get to is the cut-off for the air conditioner.

Never heard of an outside circuit breaker. Find that a little hard to believe.

I am very sceptical.

I saw this email last week from a neighbor and my first thought was holy cow, TV has gotten so big we get these type of emails. I guess in TV we need our own snopes.com.

My circuit breakers are inside the garage which is locked. Which one are you talking about?

mine too

Think it's another "he said, she said"....If true, should not leave their garage door open and accessible(breaker panel in garage not outside). The only accessible "smoking" object outside is the meter. Have to be "ballsy" to tackle the outside underground wiring.

The only way to shut off the power outside is cut the lock and pull the meter.

I just came back from the Outback... I spoke to two police officers who were there having dinner...they did comfirm this is true... they have caught this guy a few times, but when he gets out he goes back to do it again.... they also said, now his friends are doing it too!

How much money do they have to dupe Villagers out of before it becomes a serious crime? I must be missing something here??

I could have sworn it was gonna be a rumor.

If you go to Snopes.com you can find a cute email you can forward to your neighbor.

you would be very surprised on how many people do not know that.... besides most people would only hear smoke from their home & not think twice about a breaker box!

Someone told me a similar story. It happened to a lady on the historic side who lives in a manufactured home. I'm curious if the person you mentioned lives in an older home site built house or in a manufactured home, both of which absolutely have the main disconnect to the house, a breaker, on the exterior. This breaker is lockable. So if there is a padlock on it, all your problems would be solved.

Actually there is a power distribution box in your back yard. You have three green boxes back there. Two tall narrow ones and one about 2 feet by three feet. The larger one is power. It has a swing up cover and power can be turned off to your home from inside. It will control your home plus about 3 or 4 others. There are separate pull fuse blocks for each home. The taller ones are for Comcast and telephone.

How do I know this you ask? Got a letter from Seco that my shrubs were blocking the cover and that they could not turn off power to my home or other homes in an emergency. I checked it out and trimmed my shrubs so the cover could swing open.

Our home in West Palm Beach has a box next to the meter and does have a breaker that will shut off the house electric. It is so that fire fighters can shut off the electric if they are called to the house for a fire. They could fight the fire and not be concerned about eloctruction. Not sure what our place in Orang Blossom gardens has. I will look when we visit again. LB

It's not just the cover swing on the transformer box, they require 10 feet of clearance to operate the switches. It's a safety thing.

Yup - 10 feet on the 'front' of the box, 3 feet on the other 3 sides. See also the graphic and info at the bottom of this link:

Plant the right tree, in the right place

Bill :)

This is happening and CW and Law Enforcement are aware of it.

I have read everything written on this thread. I felt it sounded like one of the rumors that get circulated. I have read posts by people I trust saying it is not possible to have this happen unless you left your garage door up or unlocked and then found it was possible on the historic side but preventable in that area if you kept a padlock on it.

I think that I would like to understand more about the particulars of the law officers and the conversation at Outback. I will call the sheriff myself and ask if this is a problem or a rumor. If any of you would like to look up the not emergency number and call them you can and also a good source is the news desk at The Daily Sun. They get reports of rumors that they are checking for accuracy all of the time.

We will find out whether this is fact or fiction.

I do know this...that inaccurate things are typed on this forum all of the time and unless we know for sure we will worry and I do not mean to diminish the OP, he said he received the information in an email. Those emails spread like wildfire.

I just called The Villages office of the Sumter County Sheriff's office and spoke to two people, the second being the person at Crimes against Seniors and she said she reads TOTV every day and read this very thread and has not heard anything about this as a real happening from anyone who has been so affected.

Thank you Gracie!

:BigApplause:

The two cops at the Outback---- maybe they were Lake County. The Historical side is Lake County I think.

Gracie, I think it is great that you called the Sumter County Sheriff's Department. If you get a chance, would you call the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the Marion County Sheriff's Department too. Also, please call the Lady Lake Police Department and see if they've received any such complaints.

Watch out crooks. We've got Gracie on the case. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ;~)

Now Bk.;) The problem is...not to watch out crooks, but if there ARE crooks in this particular issue.


Here are the numbers for anyone who wants to check.

Marion County Sheriffs Department. 352.368.3558
Lady Lake Police Department. 352 751.1560 ( I called this number and the dispatcher couldn't remember, when pressed she thought there might have been something like that happen, when asked whether it was recently or say, a month ago, she couldn't remember)
Lake County Sheriffs Department 352.343.9529

Outback? Dunkin' Donuts would be more believable.:police: Any way, trailers have a box on the outside with a lever that can be pulled to shut off the electric. I don't think that it trips the breakers.

Scam
 

I personnally know a person that this has happened to. She lives in Country Club Hills. After her power went out a man knocked on the door and asked her if she was having problems with her electricity. She said her power was out and she was going to call Progress Energy. He kept saying he should come in and check it out for her. She would not open her and told him she was calling Progress. She called the electric company and they came out within 10-15 minutes because they were in the area. They told her someone shut her power off. She told them about the man at her door and they recommended She make a police report which she did. Lake County police came to her house and took her statement. On older manufactured homes the electricity can be shut off behind the house because most of them only have a carport not a garage.

MinnieM

The "easy way" to shut off power is to shut off the breakers in the garage. (Garage doors are frequently open and inviting.

or to Cut the meter seals and pull the meter is also a possibility.

To dig up the underground service and cut the triplex is do-able but that's a lot of work.That is less likely to happen for a number of reasons. (locate rquest to find the underground facilities etc)

That's the reason for the scam is easy money and little labor and trusting neighbors.

1 keep your garage doors secure . Open your breaker panel (in garage) and check if any breakers have tripped.

2. walk over to the electric meter (on the outside of garage -usally) and there will be a seal on the bottom of the meter box.If t is cut or missing someone has been messing with your service.

If your power goes out -check with your neighbors- If they are out too. call your utility SECO etc.
"Crime doesn't pay but the hours are good."

I, too, just received this email and, so, after reading the replies to the original post, questioned the person who sent it to me. Since her email indicated that she, personally, had confirmed this with Deputy Bennett of the Sumter Count Sheriff's Department, I questioned her about it. She replied that, YES, she had spoken with him and he confirmed it. She is a person of integrity.

I believe that whoever originated the email may have referred to the electrical box because he/she did not a.) remember exactly what the scammer said or b.)the scammer was counting on the homeowner to be uninformed enough to allow him to do whatever no good he was up to because we all fear smoke coming from anything electrical and he didn't care whether or not he was accurate.

They caught him!
 

From the districtgov.org site.


Important Notice from Lady Lake Police Department
The Lady Lake Police Department has announced the arrest of Justin Crouch for fraudulent acts against homeowners in our area. Mr. Crouch is believed to have been turning the electrical power to residences off and then knocking on the homeowner’s door, telling the homeowner that he noticed smoke coming from the home’s power panel. It has been reported that Mr. Crouch would then state that he could assist in returning power to the home. After negotiating a repair rate, it is believed that Mr. Crouch would simply turn the power back on.

Mr. Crouch is believed to have perpetrated this scheme in several communities. He usually used his name and phone number. Homeowners impacted by Mr. Crouch’s alleged activities should contact the Lady Lake Police Department as soon as possible at 352-751-1565

Bogie, how very vigilant of you!

...

I was sceptical about this scam and I was wrong. I am glad they caught the rascal.

Per the officers I talked to, the kid keeps getting out & keeps doing it. :mad: and his friends were doing it too....

Some companies put a main breaker outside, some dont. The reason for this is if there is a fire, they can turn the power off to the entire house, outside, instead of inside. Eletric and water dont mix, so if the FD can turn it off first, it is better. All electric boxes rated for outdoor use are UL listed to have a locking tap, just put a pad lock on it.

First with all sincerity I welcome you to TOTV but have to ask why you revived this old thread?

OLD, OLD Thread!!!

As for scams....the other night, late--it was after 10:30-- the phone rang late (we do have a land-line). Caller ID said Private Number. I did answer though as we have had calls from folks we know that said this. Anyway a female voice said "I'm your neighbor ______, can you please please help me? I'm out of toilet paper and some other things--the husband is gone and I can't get to the store to get them!" I then asked "what is your husband's name?" She gave me one...I told her "I don't have a neighbor with these names!" then hung up on her!! I do have one with the woman's name but her husband's was different PLUS their home was dark (gone to bed, or gone).

I'm thinking somehow they were picking #'s out of the phone-book and perhaps casing homes in the event folks didn't answer! Don't know!!! I maybe could have called the police but what could they do with a phone call like this?? Just be aware...that desperate (lazy) folks will do most anything that's illegal for their own benefit thinking "old" folks can be duped!!!

Just remember this. Anyone who says they are from a utility,water, gas,telephone,electric, will have a ID BADGE with their picture on it. Ask to see it . If they are from any of the utilities ,they will have one. A little off the thread but important to know.