Farmers Branch police are warning residents about a strange scam targeting elderly men and women that involves dead squirrels.
The "squirrel scam" involves two men who are dressed as roofers knocking on a victim's door and saying they saw a squirrel run down their pipes. For a couple hundred dollars, they say, they will remove it.
But when they come back, police said, the squirrel the men show the homeowner is already dead – and has been for a long time.
All of the victims targeted so far seem to be parishioners at Royal Haven Baptist Church on Valley View Lane.
It is one of the more bizarre stories Pastor Rick Dorman, a preacher for 41 years, has ever come across in his church.
"They kept saying, 'Did you hear the squirrel story?'" Dorman said. "And I said, 'What squirrel story? What are you talking about?'"
So Dorman made an announcement Sunday, saying someone had fallen victim to the squirrel scam. Then he asked who else had been approached by the same two men.
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"And when I did, it seemed like all of the hands went up," Dorman said. "This really happened? I couldn't believe it and not just to one lady, it's happened to more than one."
One of Dorman's parishioners paid for the service, then realized the recovered squirrel was already petrified.
Before she could get her money back, the men ran away.
Dorman said his congregation is mostly elderly men and women. He and police believe the crooks may have used the church's directory – which contains names, addresses, phone numbers and even photos – to find their victims.
The directory previously stayed in the church's foyer for visitors to page through, but it is now kept in a secure place.
