City of Mississauga Urges Residents to be Cautious of Some Door-to-Door Sump Pump Salespeople
Published April 26, 2019 at 9:07 pm
While not everyone enjoys chatting with door-to-door salespeople, sometimes residents are urged to exercise additional caution to avoid giving sensitive information to someone who might not be authorized to receive it.
The City of Mississauga is reminding residents that the municipality does not employ or authorize companies to install sump pumps on the city’s behalf.
Because door-to-door salespeople can sometimes use high-pressure tactics, the city recommends all residents exercise caution before providing any personal information to salespeople or committing to a service.
So, what should a resident do if they speak to a sump pump salesperson who purports to be working on behalf of the city?
The city says residents are encouraged to call 3-1-1 or 905-615-4311 for correct information about city or Region of Peel services and programs.
Customer service advisors are available to answer resident inquiries from Monday to Friday between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
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Those who are interested in sump pump work should note that city offers a sump pump subsidy program to assist homeowners that live on streets serviced by the municipal foundation drain collector (FDC) system to provide an additional safeguard against basement water infiltration.
To confirm if your property is located on a street serviced by the FDC system, residents are asked to call 3-1-1 or 905-615-4311.
Further, the Region of Peel offers a Backwater Valve Rebate program with specific eligibility requirements.
To ensure that you are informed about these programs and less likely to become a target of a company trying to sell you services or equipment, take the time to contact the region at 905-791-7800, ext. 4409 or click here.
Residents should also be aware that some scammers who are purporting to work with or for the city or province are issuing bogus parking tickets via email.
The fraudulent emails claim to originate from the Ministry of Transportation, and actually look quite legitimate.
According to the city, these emails allege that the victim has unpaid City of Mississauga parking citations. At the bottom of the email, it prompts the reader to ‘click here’ to pay outstanding fines.
The city says that these emails did not originate from the City of Mississauga, and are phishing emails sent from fraudulent email accounts designed to look official.
Anyone who believes they have been the victim of any scam (or who believes they have given sensitive information to an unauthorized person or organization), is advised to report the incident to the Canadian anti-fraud centre.
If you believe you are a victim of a scam, you can also contact local police to report the matter.
If someone comes to your door and asks to do sump pump work on behalf of the city, call the city or region to confirm before proceeding any further.
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