Refuse Collection Holiday Tip Scam Reported To Westport Police

WESTPORT, CT — Westport residents are being warned to be on the lookout for a holiday scam involving fake refuse collectors.

Local police recently got a complaint from Westport-based Malone's Refuse Service that it had received calls from customers about holiday cards left in their mailboxes.

The cards offer a pleasant holiday greeting and then a thank you from "Your Garbage Men."

Inside the envelope is a return envelope addressed to "Sanitation Workers" at an apartment on Elm Street in West Haven. Patch saw a photocopy of the card and envelope.

"Several customers have found holiday cards in their mailboxes with a return envelope to an address in West Haven," a spokesperson for Malone's said in a statement. "These cards are from people pretending to be refuse collectors in the hopes of soliciting tips from our customers."

Westport Police Lt. Eric Woods confirmed to Patch that the department received a complaint from Malone's, but so far no complaints have come in.

"There have been no complaints made from anyone who may have sent any money," Woods said.