Target 12: Preview to Contractor Sting

(FOX Providence/WPRI) - This time of year, you might be thinking of making some improvements around the house. But, if you're hiring anyone to work on a project for you, there are some things you'll want to do first.

Target 12 Investigator Susan Hogan and the Target 12 team were invited along on a sting operation. The Contractors Registration Board took them undercover and gave them an inside look into a contractor sting.

Here's what the sting entailed: They posed as homeowners looking to have work done. Target 12 got the exclusive access, and Monday night they'll bring the viewers along inside this undercover operation.

Because of the economy, Target 12 has learned a lot of contractors are taking shortcuts and its homeowners could end up paying the price.

The Contractors Registration Board has seen thousands who have let their registrations expire, but a lot of them are still working.

In Monday night's story, you'll hear from someone who was getting a simple wall made -- and is now out thousands! Also, hear how some of those caught in the sting tried to explain it away.

Watch Susan's Target 12 investigation, 'Contractor Sting', Monday night on Eyewitness News at 10 on Fox Providence, and on WPRI-12 at 11 p.m.