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March 17, 2010

Residents wary of scams

Mark Millican Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — Dalton Police cited two men on Wednesday for trying to sell magazine subscriptions for troops deployed overseas without a city license.

Justin Mitchell, 22, of 912 Hackbarry St. in Copperas, Texas, and Paul Allen Klaas, 26, of 137 Dean Drive in Clarksville, Tenn., were issued citations for soliciting without a license but were not arrested, said police spokesman Bruce Frazier.

“One of them had a failure to appear warrant from Florida, but when we contacted authorities there they did not want to extradite him,” he said. “So they were just cited.”

Frazier said the men could go to Municipal Court or pay the fee. A court spokeswoman said the soliciting charge could bring up to a $1,000 fine but did not include possible jail time.

A Valley Drive resident said she was approached by a man who said he was selling magazine subscriptions “for soldiers in Iraq.”

“The reason I know he was a con man is that he kept dropping names of people in the neighborhood,” she said. “He flashed some money three times and said a neighbor I knew gave him $30, then later he said she gave him $65. I told him I didn’t really have money for magazines because I needed to spend some money on yard work, then he said he would do the yard work if I gave him $50. He said he had to have the $50 in an hour, and I knew if I gave it to him I wouldn’t see him again. I called my neighbor and she said she hadn’t given him anything and to call police.”

In an e-mail to The Daily Citizen, one resident in an unnamed neighborhood said, “A young man just came to my door selling magazine subscriptions to finance a student internship in England. Long story short ... when I went to the company’s Web site the first hits were all ‘RipoffReport’ and ‘Better Business Bureau (gives them an F).’ The verbiage reported online is identical to what is on the Ripoff site.”

“If an organization is doing door-to-door sales in Dalton, they first must go to City Hall and obtain a permit,” Frazier explained. “From there, they are sent to the Police Services Center (on Jones Street) to get an ID card. So if someone is soliciting at your home or workplace without identification from the city, we recommend you don’t give them any money and call 911 to report it to the police department. There are some civic organizations like the Girl Scouts and the schools that are exempt from this rule. There are reputable organizations that do go door to door, but they’ll have ID.

“In this specific case, this complainant did the right thing by checking out the person’s company online and trying to figure out who they’re dealing with. We recommend that any member of the community makes sure they know who they’re dealing with before money changes hands. If you think something may not be legitimate, call the police and we’ll be happy to check things out.”

The Dalton Police phone number is (706) 278-9085.

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