HURRICANE – Police officers are on the look out for scam artists looking to take advantage of unsuspecting home-owners.
A “drive-by paving scam” is making the rounds within Hurricane valley and locals are urged to call police if they are approached by anyone claiming to offer the service.
“They usually target the elderly and try to convince people they have a screamin’ good deal on black top,” said Hurricane Police Sgt. Stacey Gubler. “Their sales pitch is pretty good. Unfortunately, people fall for it.”
Every year drive-by paving companies scam consumers out of hundreds to thousands of dollars. The scammers will typically show up at a random house and tell residents they “have some extra blacktop” available from another job and will apply it to the driveway if residents pay for the work up front.
“Scammers usually make a verbal deal with their victims and then ask for more money to complete the job or take off with the funds without doing any work,” Gubler said.
Two residents in the area said they were approached recently by a drive-by paving company and told police about the incident.
