Yuma, Arizona - The City of Yuma has become aware of at least two recent attempts by solicitors seeking contact with residents by using documents that appear to be official. The City advises residents these are private organizations that are not affiliated with the City of Yuma.
Concerned citizens have contacted customer account specialists with the City of Yuma in recent days asking the City about possible connections between notices left on their property and the City of Yuma. The notices have been reported to be of two different forms.
One notice is a document posted to the home’s front door that mimics an official notice from a service utility. The document, written in both English and Spanish, has the words “Water Info” in capital letters and large type face at the top. It states “We were here on…” with a blank for a handwritten date, and then says “Please call us ASAP between 9:00am – 7:00pm” (sic). It then lists a phone number with the local area code, then the graphic of a drop of water and the words “Water Quality Info” underlined.
The second notice is hung over front doorknobs with a test tube attached and instructions for the resident on how to collect a water sample. The piece indicates someone will return the following week to collect this sample.
One social media post reported that the person leaving them a notice was actually there attempting to sell a water filtration or water softener system.
“We've received several calls from concerned citizens asking if these people are legit and we've notified YPD,” said Customer Account Supervisor Dawn Angulo. “Unfortunately, PD has not had any luck in catching the solicitors in the act. They've requested us to ask the citizens to obtain a description of the person or persons and vehicle, then to report them to the police non-emergency number, so they can attempt to make contact.”
The Yuma Police Department’s non-emergency line is 928-783-4421.
The City has attempted to call the number listed on one of the flyers we obtained in a picture, but the calls repeatedly went to voicemail.
Residents should also note that any vendor contacting them at their residence is required to have a City business license. Each solicitor is issued an ID badge when they are approved for the solicitor’s business license, which they are required to provide to homeowners or residents upon request. No solicitor business licenses have been issued recently to any companies for water quality checks, water softener and/or reverse-osmosis system sales.