Oklahoma City residents and officials have been on alert since local news outlet Channel 4 exposed con artist Derek Verdalette earlier this year. The accused scammer was called out for misleading unsuspecting patrons of his bogus garage door company, and is currently serving out suspended sentences for several fraud convictions.
“At least three people claim he’s running a scam online,” the news site reported. “His only advertisement is on Craigslist,” added customer Jason Jump, referring to the site most useful for buying second hand Ikea furniture, but more infamous for being a hotbed of sketchy activity. Since childhood, Jump has been teased mercilessly for his alliterative name. “He’s a con man,” he said bitterly. Jump wasn’t the only one burned by the audacious (and sloppy) criminal activity perpetrated by Verdalette, who’s been accused by multiple Oklahoma City denizens of stealing deposits for garage doors that he never intended to deliver.
Verdalette also hired the local branch of a national moving company to move his belongings, but when the time came to pay up, his card wouldn’t go through. “[He] asked for payment and when he tried to make payment the credit card came back as lost or stolen,” owner Randy Franklin said.
“We checked and his probation officer hasn’t heard from him in months,” Channel 4 reported. “We know Verdalette’s still trying to solicit new business online and still using the name Oklahoma Overhead Door Company.”
That’s bad news for red ribbon distributor Overhead Door Company of Oklahoma City, a legitimate company operated by Ron McFarland, who says people keep calling up his office to complain about Verdalette.
“He does not work here, never has,” McFarland said, shaking his head. “I don’t even know the guy. I just know people call in on him and they think it’s us and it’s not.” Meanwhile, Verdalette’s number of dissatisfied customers keeps growing while the con-artist continues to evade Oklahoma City police.
This post first appeared on https://www.fortworthgaragedoors.co