Montgomery County police say scammers are targeting people in public parking lots and outside of their homes in a mobile dent repair scheme.
Police are telling residents to watch out for a silver Mercedes-Benz covered in logos.
A flier police posted Monday confirmed what many like Elliott O'Donovan already suspected.
“Working on an elderly woman’s car and it, and I hate to say, just looking at the car with all of those logos on it, it looked kind of sketchy just in general and the woman didn’t seem overly happy,” O’Donovan said.
Police say suspected scammers will cruise parking lots like at the Sumner Village Shopping Center and approach people, offering to fix dents for payment. But according to the police, it’s not legit.
Michelle O'Brien says she was approached a couple of weeks ago, and when she declined, things took a turn and the alleged scammer got aggressive.
“They saw a small little dent and they said, ‘We can fix it,’ and I said, ‘No, I'm good,’ and he almost tried to block me in and was like, ‘no no no, but we can fix this,’ and I said, ‘I got it. Leave me alone.’”
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News4 spotted a similar car and tried talking to the driver, but they took off before we could catch up.
“Anybody who comes and offers to repair my car in a parking lot, I basically say no thank you,” David Furth, a Montgomery County resident, said.
“If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is,” Anthony Mokabber, whose parents live in the area, said.
Police say businesses need a permit to do that type of work.
O’Brien says the scam warning is an important reminder.
“Everything is a scam nowadays,” she said. “I’m just on high alert about everything:”
If you are approached by that vehicle or another like it, investigators say you should just say no. Then, walk or drive to a safer location and call Montgomery County police.
