Greg's Corner

Victim gives gun to paving scammers

By Greg Collier

This time of year is the season for paving and contracting scammers. In many parts of the country, these scammers will go from town to town offering home or driveway repair services for relatively cheap prices. They usually offer their services by driving up to someone’s home unsolicited. Often, the scammers will say they have leftover materials from a previous job and that’s why the price appears to be so low, at first. More often than not, the scammers will either leave the work unfinished, or they’ll demand a much higher price than initially offered. Then the scammers can get very intimidating if you don’t have the money to pay them as one victim recently found out.

A widow from Virginia fell victim to just such a group of scammers. They pulled up to her home, stating they had asphalt left over from a previous job, and gave her a low price per square foot for repaving her driveway. However, they wouldn’t give her an exact quote. After they finished the driveway, they told the woman that the total fee was $7,000. The woman didn’t have this kind of money, and the scammers started pressuring her into considering things like going to the bank to take out a loan or selling some of her personal belongings. At one point, the scammers are said to have wanted to take her dog as partial payment. She eventually gave them $2,000 and a gun that she owned, which they accepted. Police are currently investigating.

No real contractor or paver will ever drive up to someone’s home unannounced with leftover building materials. The trucks these scammers drive are usually unmarked and could have out of state license plates. Even if you’re in the market to have home repairs done, always get a quote from any contractor you deal with. It’s also best to make sure they’re licensed in the state you reside. If they say they’re licensed but don’t say where, that could be an indication of a scam. Lastly, if you interact with one of these scammers, you may want to call your local police at the non-emergency number to let them know there are potential scammers in your area.