Seeing Through A Scam

By Joy Howe
WJBF News Channel 6 Aiken County Reporter
Published: October 9, 2008

Aiken, SC—It’s taken Jerry Scott more than twelve years to carefully carve out his contracting business in the downtown Aiken area.

Jerry Scott, Licensed Contractor: “We know most of the residents here; it’s a really good neighborhood to work for.“

He doesn’t advertise.  He says he gets most of his business by word of mouth.

Scott: “A lot of it’s trust, and that’s a big word now, is trust.“

Police say it was trust, and a lot of money, that were taken from one Aiken woman by unlicensed workers. Investigators say during the last few months, Daniel Woodruff and Jonathan Williams targeted this home near downtown Aiken. They claimed to be concerned about some things around her house and offered to do repairs.

Sgt. Jake Mahoney, Aiken Public Safety: “They developed a plan to fleece her for as much money as they could.“

Police say when they would come to collect their money, they’d notice ‘something else’ that needed repairing. The woman’s attorney caught on when he noticed thousands of dollars missing from her accounts.

Bill Tucker, Attorney: “We have no idea how these people from North Carolina found her, or settled in on her particularly, but she is typical of a lot of people in that stage of life who are vulnerable of being taken by unscrupulous people.“

Tucker asked his client who the men were, but she wasn’t sure and could only provide vague receipts. 

Tucker: “So then we had a licensed builder and a pest control person meet us at the house, go underneath the house to see if stuff was in fact done, and nothing had been done.“

Working together, investigators and Tucker traced a paper trail back to Woodruff and Williams….but officers are looking for others involved in this scamming ring.
Mahoney: “They operate over a wide territory and this is in fact a very organized, very thorough scam.“

Tucker: “I have no idea whether we’ll be able to get any of that money back for her, but goal is to keep this from happening to any other people in the community.“

Scott: “It really puts a damper on the ones that are out here doing honest work that are licensed that pay their taxes.“
Here are a couple tips: a licensed contractor typically doesn’t go door-to-door volunteering work. It’s more likely the homeowner will call them. Also, officers say it’s perfectly okay to ask for their license and to call the better business bureau to check if someone is legitimate.