Since mid-May there has been an increase in social media posts advertising heating and air conditioning services to residents of Sedona and the Verde Valley.

Some have alleged that the posts exhibit traits seen in “blow and go” scams that attempt to persuade homeowners to purchase unneeded services. Posts often use the same photos posted by other user accounts, or lack any specific business information, business names, photo numbers or websites.

The users’ social media accounts often only have a profile photo, no social media “friends” and timeline posts that are re-shares of local news stories but lack the interactions common on a legitimate social media post made by a real user.

“Some fraudulent companies will launch pop-up ads on social media groups and neighborhood platforms suggesting someone in their neighborhood has used its services,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel stated in a December press release. “But this is sometimes a lie to hook unsuspecting homeowners. Deceitful air duct cleaning companies, referred to as ‘blow-and-go’ establishments, lure consumers in with rock-bottom prices, then add on unnecessary services like costly repairs or mold removal that cost a great deal more than the initially quoted price. Some of these companies, if they complete the work, do an inferior job or leave the consumer worse off than before, with dirt and contaminants blown from their HVAC systems onto drapes, carpets and furniture.”

Neither the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office nor the Sedona Police Department have documented any Verde Valley residents being victimized by HVAC frauds.

“I believe that [scammers] are targeting homeowners in a period of time when they are the most concerned about the health and their indoor air quality post-COVID,” National Air Duct Cleaners Association President April Yungen said. “These companies you see on Facebook are not legitimate.”

NADCA argued that scammers will:

• Offer prices such as a full system cleaning for under $200 as opposed to most legitimate companies’ rates of $500 or more

• Tell a sob story about how their business is on the verge of ruin as justification for their low rates

• Be new members of a social media group

• Use generic company names to make themselves hard to locate

• Fail to provide a phone number

• Ask for payment up front or only accept cash

• Go door to door looking for customers

Yungen said that a small number of these illegitimate companies will take customers’ money and never show up to do the job, or will show up with a simple shop vacuum and either do a sub-par job or pretend to discover a need for additional remediation work.

“A legitimate contractor is going to come with more than just a shop vacuum,” Yungen said. “First of all, their vacuum is going to be HEPA filtered, so that it’s 99.97% efficient against particles that are typically found in your HVAC system. They’re also going to come with either a large truck that has blow-up catch-alls in it, or they’re going to come with a portable system, it’s a negative air machine basically pulling any contaminants back out of the system that they’re dislodging. If they don’t have those two pieces of equipment, that should be a huge red flag.”

“It’s giving the whole air duct cleaning industry a bad name,” Yungen said. “People might hesitate to consider air duct cleaning because of the scams they see on Facebook. However, in reality, a home’s air conditioning system functions like its lungs. Neglecting proper maintenance could lead to system damage, reduced energy efficiency, and higher energy costs. It’s a significant and legitimate industry, but these scammers are tarnishing its reputation.”