Too good to be true

Faye Hamilton thought she was getting a free carpet cleaning, but instead discovered roughly $400 missing from her bedroom.

The thieves have not been caught, but they apparently were masquerading as a carpet cleaning service. Hamilton was an unlucky victim of this con.

The 79-year-old Lake Placid woman was sitting inside her apartment on Feb. 4 when the doorbell rang. On the other side was a woman holding a flyer advertising a new business she was trying to open in town, according to Hamilton.

In an effort to spread the word, the woman offered to have Hamilton's carpet cleaned, as well as one piece of furniture, at no cost.

Hamilton disregarded the "no soliciting" sign she had posted beside her door and said yes to what she thought was a complimentary service.

"It wasn't free," she said. "It cost me over $400."

After Hamilton agreed, the woman said somebody would be there in a few minutes to do the cleaning.

This mysterious house guest never gave her name.

Enter 'Angel'

A few minutes later, the woman returned with a tall young man who was carrying a vacuum cleaner and other equipment.

"She introduced him as Angel," Hamilton said. "My son said he looked around in here and saw that I had angels and decided that that would be a good name."

Her son, Kevin Hamilton, who was there at the apartment that day, was not initially taken aback by Angel. It was the man's appearance that helped to sell the act.

Kevin said he was very clean cut and wearing a nice shirt and tie. In fact, he thinks the man may very well have been a vacuum salesman at one time.

"He knew what he was doing," Kevin said.

Angel got to work. He put filters into the vacuum cleaner and started vacuuming various spots in the apartment.

He would even stop to show Hamilton all the dirt he'd just swept up, she said.

"Honestly, there was really nothing to show that he even seemed to be a thief, in any way," Kevin said.

A red flag

Things got weird for them when Angel asked if he could use the bathroom to wash his hands.

"That should have been my first clue," Hamilton said, who added the man had to pass her bedroom to get to the bathroom.

Mother and son were sitting on their porch while Angel was in the bathroom, trying to stay out of his way since he planned to shampoo the carpet.

The water continued to run, but both noticed the man had been gone a long time. When he finally returned, he said he'd have to go out to his vehicle to get the shampoo ready.

"We should have noticed something was funny when he packed everything up," Hamilton said.

Needless to say, neither Angel or the woman ever returned and Hamilton found money and a check missing.

Since the incident, Hamilton changed her checking account and canceled all her credit cards.

Investigating a con

Highlands County Sheriff's Lt. Tim Lethbridge, with the Criminal Investigations Unit, said the responding deputy is still handling the case and no arrests have been made as of Wednesday.

Paul Hinman, crime prevention specialist for the sheriff's office, said there have been similar cons against elderly Lake Placid residents in recent weeks.

In one case, an 85-year-old man was approached by a gentleman on a bicycle who offered to pressure wash his pool deck for $500.

"There should have been a red flag go up since the man came up on a bicycle," Hinman said.

The alleged pressure washer then told the man he would need $500 up front so he could go and buy the equipment, according to Hinman. The man paid the money, but the work was never done.

Hinman said he spoke to the victim, but no investigation was ever started since the man did not want to pursue the matter any further.

He suggests that anyone who is encountered by the mysterious do-gooders not be afraid to ask pertinent questions about their own background.

"The scam artists are out there," Hinman said.