City of Culver City issued the following announcement on Nov. 22.
The Culver City Fire Department has received several recent reports from local businesses that companies/individuals are falsely representing themselves as agents of the fire department or City, and that they have been intimidating local businesses into paying for fire protection maintenance and inspection services, including exit lights, fire extinguishers, fire sprinkler systems, smoke alarms, and hood suppression systems.
Employees of the fraudulent companies will often wear T-shirts with the word FIRE in bold lettering on either the front or back and represent themselves as either members or agents of the fire department. Culver City Fire Department members will always wear their complete uniforms while conducting annual business inspections, including their official Culver City Fire Department badge.
Fraudulent companies may demand to conduct inspection/repairs and may make threats to close the business down, ask for cash payments, or walk out with the business's fire extinguishers and demand payment before they will be returned. Often, they will ask an employee to sign a piece of paper “acknowledging the inspection” and then use that signature to claim that the employee approved the service.
What to do if you inspect a fraudulent inspector - Ask for documentation (e.g., work authorization from your company, valid contractor license).
Call the Community Risk Reduction Division at (310) 253-5925 with questions or if you suspect fraudulent activity.
Original source can be found here.
Source: City of Culver City
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