Fake bed bug exterminator burgles 5 B'klyn apts

By Teri Karush Rogers | March 7, 2011 - 10:41AM

The city's bed bug epidemic has certainly engendered its share of incompetent and/or shady exterminators peddling expensive "treatments" that don't work. But an NBC report on Friday (above) pushes the bed bug grifter envelope from con artist to crook: A man is wanted for burglarizing five Brooklyn apartments this year after showing up unannounced and claiming to be a bed bug exterminator. He asks residents to leave while he "treats"--treats himself, that is, to their jewelry and whatnot.

Bottom line: If someone shows up at your door claiming to be an exterminator (or buildings department inspector, or any number of things you didn't ask for), don't let them in without first verifying their visit with your building management.

(NBCnewyork.com, via Bedbugger.com and Gothamist.com)

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Teri Karush Rogers

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Founder and publisher Teri Karush Rogers launched Brick Underground in 2009. As a freelance journalist, she had previously covered New York City real estate for The New York Times. Teri has been featured as an expert on New York City residential real estate by The New York Times, New York Daily News, amNew York, NBC Nightly News, The Real Deal, Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and NY1 News, among others. Teri earned a BA in journalism and a law degree from New York University.

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