BRYAN, Texas — Power outages, ripped fences, and damaged roofs. These are all a result of the storm that passed through Friday night, and these storms are the perfect opportunity for scammers to call you.
"Especially when we get a storm like this, it's very typical for people to come from all different areas of Texas, sometimes even from Oklahoma just coming to chase the storm," said President of Schulte Roofing Josh Schulte.
And local contractors say these calls happen more often than you may think.
"There are a lot of scams in the construction industry. Roofing specifically because there's very little to no regulation in roofing and construction at all, so you can wake up tomorrow and be a roofer," said Executive Director of America’s Choice Roofing Hannah Spivey Parry.
If your home was damaged in the storm, these scam calls may be no stranger to you. Local contractors say in order to protect yourself, always do your research to make sure the person calling you is locally located and the company they work for is insured.
"One thing I recommend to a lot of people is do your homework. Research the company, there will be a lot of red flags if a person is trying to get money from you over the phone. Or, if a person is trying to close the job over phone, that should be automatically red flags. Somebody who's professional enough and cares about their company will meet the person first, explain what's going to be done, and then you know, go ahead and talk about payment," said Fence Repair College Station Co-Owner Antonio Ramirez.
Local contractors also advised to check the Internet on Google, Facebook, and Yelp to ensure the legitimacy of the contractor.
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