Tomas Elias Gonzalez Tomas Elias Gonzalez of Hammers and Nails Contractors in Sarasota FL took $6,000 deposit for porch work then disappeared Sarasota Florida

On September 2, I found someone calling himself "Tomas Elias Gonzalez" through a craigslist ad. HIs company is supposedly called “Hammers and Nails Contractors”, which is probably fraudulent. The job I needed done was to expand my back porch to be enclosed with roof, windows and screens. After a few emails, “Tomas" came to my house and spent a half hour discussing the job. He gave me estimate of $12,000. He said he would need half of the payment ($6,000) upfront and then would begin work immediately and be finished “within two weeks”. I gave him the money, he seemed trustworthy and likable.

After this point, everything went downhill.

After paying down payment, he didn’t answer my calls for 2 weeks. He finally called me back. He set a date to come out and start work on October 15. Never showed up that day. Instead, he showed up October 17th unannounced. Spent about an hour doing measurements and whatever else. He said the estimate would change from $12,000 to about $18,000. When I asked why, Tomas said the project “is larger than I originally estimated."

We argued over the change. It seemed fishy to me. He said he understood and would meet with me two days later after figuring out a way to get the price back down. Well, after that, he never showed up. I called him repeatedly, no return call backs. After several days, his phone was no longer connected.
I drove to the address he put in craigslist. It’s a residential street with small houses. At the end of the street where the address SHOULD be, the street just ends into a bunch of trees.

So this whole incident points to a scammer.

This guy looks around 55-60 years old. Has a goatee, graying hair, about 5 foot 5. He said he was originally from Cuba, moved here as a kid, etc. Has anyone else been scammed by this guy or someone fitting the description? If you find someone on craigslist or online in Sarasota for construction, be very very cautious! Total scam.