79-Year-Old Says She Was Scammed by Phony Tree Trimmers
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- Опубликовано: 2 апр 2024
- Some homeowners are sounding the alarm over tree trimming scams. Loli McIlwain says a man knocked on her door claiming to be a tree trimmer. As she showed him into her backyard, his accomplice exited the truck and went into the house. McIlwain says the accomplice ransacked the bedroom. Authorities say phony tree trimmers are operating across the U.S. They believe it's an organized gang that leaves a trail of break-ins in their wake. Inside Edition’s Steven Fabian has more.
This isn't a scam, its a robbery... clearly...
You don't know what scam means, do you?
@@BeccaHetrickclearly you don’t. This is absolutely classify as a robbery. The person was not tricked into handing over money.
@@BeccaHetrick You don't know how condescending you sound, right? Or is talking down to others just what you do to feel better about yourself?
Rule #1, you didn't call for the service, don't even open the door....soliciting services should be illegal nowadays.
@@Hippowdon121 womp womp
I hope they found that guy who tried to scam a 79 year old. That is very disrespectful and he should go to jail
Prison. He deserves to go to prison. Jail is nothing. Jail is where you go between the police station/courthouse and then the prison. Jail is just for holding. Prison is the real deal. Trust me, I've been twice...
@@BeccaHetrick Yes correct. Me too. But i also sometimes mix them up. I've noticed it's a common thing when english isn't your native language. Or young innocent people.
@@lubrikwiklund that's why I comment. Tons of people don't know there's a difference between jail and prison. If they don't know and I tell them, now they DO know. I'm not trying to be condescending or rude to anyone at all. I love when a random person teaches me something new, so I do the same for others...
And hopefully once he is sent to prison he has a very unpleasant experience on a daily basis.
@@iamnoone940 Elders need to be put in care homes or have a trustee look after them!
Rule #1, you didn't call for the service, don't even open the door....soliciting services should be illegal nowadays.
I don’t think soliciting should be illegal. People still have a right to try and get their business out there. Yall just be miserable and hate on those actually trying to work hard.
Don’t lump these scammers in with actual real door to door businessmen
I never open the door for unexpected guests. This is ridiculous and those gang members should be placed (or thrown) in prison.
I don't even answer the phone for numbers not programmed in my phone to me its the same thing
Me either I look at them like they’re crazy on their ring camera
I don't either.
LoL "gang members", loved that part where they say it's happening across the whole country as "an organized gang"
I don't answer the phone or the door or comments 😂
imagine how pathethic u have to be to steal from a 79-year-old woman! SAD
She looks good for 79
ok cougar hunter. There endangered species 🤗
Opening your door for strangers is ridiculous wtf!!!
That’s what I’m saying! Who tf doesn’t lock their doors?
79 year old grew up ina. different time.
Why did you call it a scam? It's literally a robbery.
That won't happen to anyone 45 or younger because when someone unexpected knocks on our doors, we run and hide and check the cameras... AND KEEP THE DOORS LOCKED UNLESS WE'RE PHYSICALLY WALKING THROUGH THEM...
You sound like Hamas or Isis is coming after you every time somebody comes to your door
@@leighhoppins9273 it's actually quite a normal thing for someone my age. A lot of Gen xers and even millennials do the same thing. For me it stems from when I was a kid and a teenager (way back in the 90's) and my crazy grandmother would randomly show up at our house with old frozen groceries and just junk from her house that she didn't want anymore... I would see her car pulling into the driveway and I would just run to the other side of the house or upstairs and peek out the window until she left... It's a common thing with people my age and younger. No one just answers the door anymore... And I have no clue what Hamas is...
@@BeccaHetrick😂 How do you not know that Hamas is a terrorist group? It’s been in the news all over the place.
@@BeccaHetrickI agree with your initial post, but she's your grandmother, not a stranger. Don't think I follow.
@@leighhoppins9273
Worse. Christian Nationalists.
Why store $100,000 in a safe so small it can easily be carried away?
Fr. A huge factor in buying one is making sure it's too difficult to move, not just difficult to open. Her safe was the size of a toaster.
The thing and the question is how did they know she had a safe in there in the first place⁉️ because time is their enemy‼️ and also I question the first lady with video cameras all up in her house⁉️ Almost like this was a planned out agenda for the supposed people with the least amount of common Sense ⁉️🤔🤔🤔
It's still better than a bank, but needs to be hidden and never spoken of.
$100k is like $1000 for her so its nothing much
@@pa5666the size of a Toaster 😂😂😂, I'm laughing so hard
This is even worse than guys stealing our packages at our doorsteps.
Doesn’t EVERYONE get $100K packages delivered every day????
No one asked to see papers from the city? Did they not think beforehand that they didn’t receive any type of notice(s) before the scams? Let no one in your home.
Do you have city permitted tree trimmers??? I know I don’t have any if probably 39 miles around atleast.
My home safe weighs over 500 pounds without anything inside it. Loaded down with firearms, gold and silver, and jewelry it weighs close to 1000 pounds.
People still answer the door? If I’m not expecting them, I’m not opening the door
This is totally me LOL
Not much of a good safe if someone can just walk out with it that easy. 😂
right lmfao
Yeah. That's like locking your bike to a traffic cone.
That why You bolt the Safe to the floor!!!
Yup, heard this so many time with small safes. I once at work had to break a hole in residential basement home and place the safe door up and redo concrete around. Average guy just doing being mindful it seemed. I am a little lazier if I had one would probably bolt into ground make the bolts round/unturnable. Would have to drill or tap the bolts to remove it and if they were on the inside you're not doing that without the getting into the safe first :) hope everyone secures their valuables cause these thief's don't deserve it.
Seriously. Otherwise it's like a present with all of your valuables inside of it.
Why don’t you just lock the door?
they only target rich neighborhoods. Most likely these people grew up rich and lack the "middle class" logic of always locking up. For majority of americans we live around crime so its common sense for us but not so much for them.
Usually u don't lock the door to take a look in the back yard, like has anybody locked the door to take the trash out?
@@dexterjsullenEvery single time I leave my car or my place even if it's only to step outside for a few minutes I always lock my doors. Being from a poor side of Vegas you've got to do that.
@@dexterjsullen My mother does... Somebody could come in your house, in that short time
@DropoutJerome nobody does that
I just stopped answering my door, even with Ring. I can't keep up with all these scams.
Where is everybody’s common sense?
Some aren't born with it. Like milennials...
You notice they always get away with this scheme on old people , why because old people become like children in their old age very easy to manipulate smh .
@@BeccaHetrick Watch before commenting.
@@BeccaHetrick You mean gen Z 😂
It's not a scam. It's a break-in.
I’m safe, I don’t have tree’s .
hahahaha good comment.
I’m even safer, I don’t have anything to steal, lol.
@@rayray8687 🤣😂
It's dangerous opening the door like that. My mother is 76 and answer's the door with Her friends Smith & Wesson
Wow she doesn't look 79
This is exactly why I have trained guard dogs.
I see a pattern here…
On a completely unrelated note. Fellas, how many of y’all letting random strangers into your home?
This happened to my parents in 1990 and we had $2,000 in cash stolen. The criminals were never caught.
2000$ back then must be like 18,000$ today. Atleast they were not hurt. But i know it really messes with your mental peace for a few months.
@@praddzzz 2 thousands more. 4k. not that drastic lol
Also kinda curious how do they know there's no one else in the home, like another family member could be upstairs while 1 person answers the door. Were they stalking the household for a while?
If you didn’t call to have the services done, why would you voluntarily let a stranger claiming to perform that said service in your house? 🤔
Can we go back to the days when thieves would have their hands removed?
I'm still not understanding why they even opened the door to a stranger. 🙄🙄
The only thing I don't understand, most of all the first clip with the elderly lady, that guy had to know exactly where to go, that was a huge two story home and happened to go right to the good room and make off like a bandit? Sounds like they were watching that home for a while.
Me personally, I would’ve locked my door 🤷♂️
He still would have gotten in through the chimney!
2nd time i've seen this exact situation. Be alert folks.
I trim trees. Guess no more door knocks lol
A safe that small not bolted down is just insane
No tree trimmer would come to your house because another neighbor called them. The people they scammed/ robbed didn't think to ask them for some legit papers or ask them to give them their number to call their company or ask what neighbor called them?
Thank you for raising awareness about this... I shudder to think what would have happened if there were little kids inside
That is so disgusting. My town comes around once a year to trim the trees that hang on electrical wires & they se d out a notice when they'll be in our neighborhood.
Horrible, thanks for exposing this
My goodness....... How long has it been since i opened my front door??...... Gosh i dont even remember. With ring cameras and service being so cheap. I dont open the door for delivery people...amazon ...ups.... Not even the police who knocked last year and i didn't answer and still dont know what they wanted. I aint guilty. Not my problem whatever it is.
I don’t ever answer the door unless it’s a kid
if you did not call them. dont let them in.
Over 100k? I doubt it
Right!!! She was lying for insurance money! The way she looked down when she said it was a huge giveaway 😂😂😂😂
haha, well for insurance claims then 100K
How would you know?
@@javiruiz8365For homeowners insurance if it’s jewelry stolen it’s an add on item, just like pew pews and other specific items to homeowners insurance. Items like those aren’t covered as part of the general property loss. You usually have to keep detailed records of the items too. Pictures and values of the jewelry, and firearms. We’ve got pictures, serial numbers and the worth of each documented.
Her house is worth almost $2 million
I've noticed this is becoming a more common scam
That's why I never leave a door unlocked behind me.
Especially when you're down in your mom's basement playing video games USMC ghost 420 😂
Ask for ID or a business card if they can’t provide one shut the door
Just say you don’t have a tree or keep dogs
That celebrity just casually said, ‘They stole 100k’. That guy would be peeing sitting down if he did that to me.
This is literally a robbery
How do they come up with such a plan and then not even care to cover their faces lol
a safe isnt very safe if its small enough to carry out. either get one to heavy ti carry or bolt it to the floor. at a minimum put a gps inside it.
How despicable that these people would do such a thing, can't trust anybody nowadays.
This is why I always lock my front door. Even if I am home, it is still locked
I never open my door.
So you never leave the house?
@@simonstevenson6686 I said I don’t open my door.
@@simonstevenson6686 Ha! That went over my head! If you need me to complete the sentence here you go. I don’t open my door when strangers ring my doorbell. 😂
@@Lady4Life Ok. I knew what you meant, just being funny.
@@simonstevenson6686 Ohhhh ok! It was a good one! 😊
Hope they get caught & stuff recovered.
I never let anyone enter my house or buy any services from unless I have called them.
It’s amazing to me that people fall for this sort of thing.
Why would you even open the door? Come on people, this is the oldest trick in the book. Various travelers…..asphalt, roofing, driveway sealing, landscaping, my buddy around the corner, my truck is full of material, they delivered too much product. Travelers. Don’t open the door. Period. Problem solved.
and you left the door UNLOCKED ? Shame on you
@@hgfku-tn6hb looked or not, ALWAYS keep your doors locked, geez, it's THAT simple
I would only believe utility worker if they show me their badge and relevant papers
I would not, they can show you fake credentials.
@@estuardoblanco2860 yup and a big badge
I'm from the Virgin Islands I remember back when hurricane Maria hit this place there was a gang going around claiming they could fix roofs then they would rob you😮
The guy that goes into the house to steal will not make it out of mine!!!!
Older people didn’t grow up with the current people in the world . They grew up at a time where people were more trust worthy
Probably best not to answer the door
Having a safe is pointless if it isn't bolted to the floor or other structure.
I've had this attempted a couple of times. People with those five dollar high-vis vests they just bought from the convenience store...When they see I am not a little old lady, they make excuses and leave.
Inside edition doesn’t know the difference between a scam and a robbery. Those were robberies and even home invasions.
Some white girl came up to my door one day and asked if i needed any of my floors cleaned and she said it was only for today. I was about to leave but luckily my family was also home. When i was about to leave for work its just her and a older black guy walking around. I live in a ghetto city so i was sketched out completely
Trust no one. It's lesson I have learned in life. One of the movers stole my locked book safe. They all were very friendly with smiles on their faces.
What did they all have in common in their skin color ⁉️
Could have been a lot worse...you're lucky they were just thieves. Never open your door to a stranger.
Always see the wood for the trees
Scam? Or robbery? Damn
They had to have known beforehand how many people were in the house. Possibly a heat detector of some sort. Pretty creepy
Had 2 guys approach my house with a clipboard and some orange vests. I spoke through my security camera and said I’m not interested in whatever service you’re trying to sell you obviously 🙄 don’t read very well considering there’s a no soliciting sign on my door at eye 👁️ level. I said please leave. They kept talking so then I just set off the 100db + alarm. 😂 That got them to leave.
People so stupid to open the door for strangers
Listen. You’re gonna need a damn warrant to get anywhere in my house or backyard
How do they even know about the safe! It's almost like they d been there before!😮
Only in these suburbs neighborhood can you find dumb homeowners that would let you into their homes.
I’m sure there’s more to this story. The robber knew, for instance, exactly where the diamond watch was. Why? He likely knew he had about two minutes to find it.
Something similar happened to my elderly neighbors, three men claiming Something was going on with the electricity they went off with some money and jewelry 😢
We're the cowards ever caught?
@trevorjensen2706
unfortunately, no, they had masks on it happen during the pandemic he couldn't even see their faces
*FUN FACT* Any "safe" you can pick up and stuff into a pillow case is NOT a safe.
This is horrible!!!
why do i have a feeling that the safe wasn't actually bolted to anything hard, if it was even bolted to anything at all
Scams? That’s home invasion and robbery
One thing you can say about the criminal Society they're always thinking about how to take stuff😮
Terrifying
I don't open my door for anyone im not expecting 👏
Someone tipped them off
An UN-bolted, FIFTEEN POUND “safe.” HA!!!!!!! She robbed herSELF!!!!
Bruh who does this to an old retired person like cmon doug yall don't have nothing else to do rather than scam retired people
An elderly neighbor of mine got scammed off a fake Facebook ad for fire wood he paid them and they never showed up
Always scammers out there ✔️
If you have a small safe that can be carried, bolt the thing to the floor. Especially when there is 100k in there!
Scam? Ya' mean robbery?
ladies never ever let a stranger lure you out of your home if your not expecting anyone don’t answer if they keep pounding on the door try breaking in run call 911 hide i can’t believe the scummy people out there just shameful
That first con man seems like he was seen on 1/6 footage. So he’s all kind of scummy.
these kinds of videos always get a deluge of people saying "don't open the door for strangers". then in videos of homeowners helping strangers, the comments say "faith in humanity restored" 🤷♀️
Sad when someone hard working gets swindled into paying a person who rathers make money the easy and lazy way. I am sorry that this happened.
Well, this is why you always lock your doors, windows and possibly just not answer the door for a random “tree trimmer” if you’re not expecting one.
It’s good that they have cameras, but cameras won’t keep your valuables or you safe from these scammers.
Homeowners need to have more common sense when it comes for their home safety.
Who opens their door to a stranger??
Non-introverts
@@jakegrimmer1861 nah just idi0T5
@@Zathokata Nah, just normal people who aren't scared, loner, shut-ins.
why do ppl fall for it if u didn’t pay why r u gonna take a service
Did they both get their stuff back?