BE WARNED AND BE CAREFUL

BE WARNED AND BE CAREFUL   There is a gang of men who are conning people, usually the elderly and vulnerable.  They seem to work from the area around the Borrowdale Post Office and usually approach you saying that they can “touch-up” the scratches etc on your car. The front headlight on her car DID require attention and, being worried that this damage could cause the Police to stop her and possibly issue a fine, she agreed that they could repair it. They followed her to her home, parked their car (an old yellow left-hand drive Mercedes) in her garage and drove off in her car.  They were happy to give her the ID number of the one man but she had no idea where they had taken her car, nor did she have a contact telephone number. They left in her car at about 2 p.m. and contacted her a couple of times by phone to say they would shortly return it. At about 6 p.m. they arrived at her house and the headlight had been repaired BUT they told her that they had welded a crack in the chassis and resprayed her vehicle totally.  (It had not obviously been resprayed but she wasn’t sure if it could have been – the colour etc was identical to when they had driven it away).  The amount they wanted for the job was US$1700.  She had no cash on her and on advice of her neighbours refused to pay them.  They eventually brought their price down to $1000.  They were given $200 and said they would be back to collect the rest. As I write this there have been no more happenings but we have since heard that she is not the only person to have been conned by these men.  The experience has left her shaken and scared and obviously she is reluctant to ever go to the Borrowdale Post Office area again. Please circulate this email . Hopefully we can avoid anyone else from having this terrible experience.