KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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The owner of 21st Century Chimney Sweep says he's dealing with an increasingly complex 21st-century problem: online scams.
Jason Clough's family has served chimney owners in the Lawrence area since the 1970s. For roughly a year, about a dozen of Clough's customers have been targeted by scammers posing as his company.
Betty is one of those customers. KSHB 41 News is not using Betty's full name because she's worried about being targeted again.
Betty says she was getting the windows replaced at her Lawrence home in April 2025 when the window servicer suggested she get her chimney inspected. He recommended 21st Century Chimney Sweep.
“Even if you do get a recommendation from somebody, make sure you get the phone number of that business so you don’t have to look it up," she said.
That's one of the lessons Betty's taking away from this ordeal.
Betty, Jason and the National Chimney Sweep Guild say the scammers created fake Google listings to pose as 21st Century Chimney Sweep.
"I feel like we’ve managed to get close to 100 listings across the country taken down, but as soon as you take them down, they start popping up again," said Brett Conklin, who serves on the board of directors for the National Chimney Sweep Guild.
Betty took the recommendation to Google. She found what she thought was Clough's listing and called the listed number.
But she said the person on the other end of the line answered with a different company name.
“I said, ‘Uh, is this 21st Century Chimney Sweep?’ And she said, ‘Oh, that’s a sister company,'" Betty said.
Betty scheduled an inspection, and while someone showed up, an inspection never took place.
“He didn’t have a ladder, which was another like, you don’t have a ladder? And you’re going to look at my chimney?” Betty said.
Betty said the scammer looked at her chimney from the ground and wrote her a $4,199 estimate.
She noticed several red flags: high-pressure sales tactics, no company branding and no use of equipment.
When she went to make out a $50 check for an inspection fee, she noticed another. The scammer used another company name. Betty said it was the fourth company name the scammers provided.
“I thought, well, maybe they could have a big umbrella company and have sister companies," she said. "I should have said I changed my mind when I saw no sign (company branding).”
Betty returned to Google, scrolled down further and found another 21st Century Chimney Sweep listing. She said this one was listed out of Perry, Kansas.
“My specialty is chimneys, their specialty is marketing," Clough said. "I’m not a search engine optimization person.”
Betty called Clough to tell him about the scam she experienced. It was not the first time he had received that kind of phone call.
“We don’t get nearly as many new customers, and the ones we are getting are usually second opinions," Clough said.
It's not only impacting his business, but it can also create costly safety hazards for businesses and homeowners.
“A lot of people think we’re going to sweep the chimney to remove the creosote, which is flammable and fuel for a flue fire, and that’s part of what we’re doing, but there’s definitely indoor air quality issues that we can address," Clough said.
After scammers visited one of his customers, smoke was entering their home. Clough said another scammer dismantled a customer's gas log set and couldn't put it back together.
Once Betty and Clough finally connected, he inspected her chimney.
“He spent over an hour and a half up on the roof, doing all kinds of things, coming down and seeing where it goes into the basement," Betty said.
But that's not the only thing they did. The two called the number Betty originally called.
Once again, the scammers posed as 21st Century Chimney Sweep, and that's when Clough told them, "I'm the owner." He said they hung up.
As of right now, Clough feels like there's not much he can do.
The National Chimney Sweep Guild continues to flag illegitimate online listings and educate chimney owners about these types of scams.
Lee Roff, who serves on the board of directors for the guild, said it's easy for scammers to target the chimney industry because most people are unaware of what happens inside a chimney.
"When you have a carpet cleaner, you see clean carpet," Roff said. "The inside of a chimney is not necessarily something that you can look up and see.”
The guild says legitimate chimney companies should always provide homeowners with pictures of their inspection, display brand logos on their cars and clothing, and use specialized equipment.
The National Chimney Sweep Guild has a resource to help chimney owners identify reputable chimney companies. You can find that resource here.
“When we have illegitimate people come in, they’re using that trust that we created, they’re eroding that trust that we’ve created, and they’re really making it easier for them to scam people," Clough said.
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