City of Richmond warns of fake city workers trying to access homes

The City of Richmond is warning residents about a scam in which people are impersonating city workers and trying to gain entry to homes.

On Friday, the city posted about the issue on their Facebook page, saying they had received reports of "individuals in work gear impersonating City of Richmond employees and knocking on doors requesting access to residences."

Richmond RCMP say they received a report of a couple of suspicious men wearing reflective clothing in the 5500 block of Cornwall Drive on Wednesday.

"In this case there was no forced entry or anything and the two suspects were long gone before we arrived," said Cpl. Ian Henderson.

"We would like to identify these two, and at this time we don't know what they were up to exactly, but we would like to check that out."

Henderson says it's not the first time he's heard of this scam.

"It does happen occasionally, so it's important for people if they're questioning the validity of someone at their front door to verify who they are before letting them into their home," Henderson said.

The city says its work is focused on external property; staff will never enter a person's home.

Also, workers always carry photo ID and drive city branded and numbered work vehicles.

If in doubt, the city says to call their works yard at 604-270-8721 or the Richmond RCMP.