小心清雪骗局

[SIZE="3"]Many people in the Saint John area are complaining they've been defrauded by a snow plow operator who took their money up front but hasn't shown up to clear their driveways.

It's treacherous footing around Saint John's Crerar Court as most of the driveways are coated in ice and slush.

Five of the eight houses on the court signed up with the same contractor to plow their driveways over the winter.

Although the winter hasn't brought with it a lot of snow, the neighbours haven't seen the person they hired to clear their driveways since the first snow storm in December.

Several families in the north end say they paid for the entire winter up front to a snow plow contractor found on the online classified site Kijiji.

John MacKenzie said he thought it was odd when the contractor asked him to pay for his service at the start of the winter. But at a bargain price of $50 for clearing the snow from his driveway, he went along with it like many of his neighbours.

"I was a little bit skeptical at the beginning," MacKenzie said.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

The alleged snow-clearing scam did not stay within the confines of Saint John's Crerar Court.

Kelly Spencer, a Rothesay resident, said she lost $350 to the same contractor who was supposed to plow her driveway.

Spencer said she never suspected that anything was amiss when the individual outlined how he'd clear her driveway for the winter.

"He had a business card, he gave me an updated cell number, he gave me a written receipt," She said.

"There was no indication for me that he wasn't who he was saying he was."

Spencer has launched a complaint with the Rothesay police.

As well, the Saint John police has dispatched its fraud unit to investigate the snow-clearing caper.

Sgt. Tony Hayes said he's received only one complaint so far.

"People … either don't realize that they've been a victim of a fraud or they realize they've been defrauded but are embarrassed or don't know what to do once they've been faced with something like this," Hayes said.

Hayes said anyone in a similar situation should contact the police.

Spencer said it was important for her to report the alleged fraud even if it doesn't help her recoup any of her money.

"I doubt I'll see any of my money back but I wanted to at least do what I could to kind of right the situation a little bit," Spencer said.

"I know there's a lot of other victims out there and I guess I just wanted to get the message out that I have pursued legal action."[/SIZE]