Do you plan to install solar panels on your roof? Be very careful. For several weeks, the Vaud cantonal police have noticed a worrying increase in scams linked to their installation in recent weeks.
Companies, sometimes recently created or taken over, proceeds in fact insistently, even aggressively, to sell solar panels, but also batteries, heat pumps, etc. The crooks are approaching their victims by door-to-door or by distributing flyers. These people then require the payment of early installments, supposedly to order equipment. But once the money has been received, they disappear and interrupt all contact.
Some of these companies happen to go bankrupt and redirect the victims to other “partners” companies, the police underlines. HIC: The latter then reproduce the same fraudulent operating mode. “In some cases, these companies are led by novices that carry out work in a defective manner, not in accordance with standards or at an exorbitant cost,” she adds.
Suddenly, the cantonal police recommends being wary of any too insistent canvassing. Better to take the time to compare the offers and ask for several quotes, she says. And to verify companies, in particular with the trade register and the prosecution office. Also avoid paying deposits without guarantee and beware of potential accomplices that act as partners.
