Police: Protect Yourself From Theft By Moving, Cleaning Companies

Tampa Police recently sent out an advisory to New Tampa neighborhood watch leaders, warning there have been "a few cases lately related to thefts from cleaning and moving services personnel."

Here are the tips from detectives:

1. Hire a well-known company that is bonded. Although word of mouth may give you some comfort when being referred by a friend or neighbor, sometimes those references may unknowingly hire someone to do work who may have a history of theft. As an example, one of his latest cases involved a moving company. The moving company hired two individuals who were background checked and by all appearances should be trusted ... the problem arose when those two individuals "contracted" someone else to do the work instead of them. The two men hired their own "replacements" and they did not do history checks. It turned out the thieves had a burglary arrest record. So always stick with a well-known company, and request to physically see the background checks of the person they are sending. A company who values your patronage will not mind supplying you that information upon request.   

2. When hiring cleaning/moving services, inquire as to who will be arriving to do the work & request the I.D. of the person who does in fact respond. If there is a discrepancy in the I.D. of the person who has shown up to do the work, contact the company immediately and get the I.D.'s verified.

3. This may seem to be a lot of work, but it is worth the time to know that the people who are in your home, are in fact there to assist - instead of stealing from you. Thank you.