Driveway scammers use diesel fuel

SEMMES, Ala. (WALA) - The Mobile County Sheriff Office said driveway scammers will use real sealant with diesel fuel to spray driveways and scam you out of money. It happened to a Semmes woman yesterday when the scammers asked for $1,700 for paving an elderly woman's driveway.

I couldn't believe it was $1,700 dollars I said you've got to be kidding. I said I told you I didn't have the money for this where am I supposed to get it from? You don't just walk up and hand a senior citizen a bill for $1,700 dollars when I told you I didn't have the money, the woman said who asked us not to use her name.

She says two men approached her last week and offered to repave her driveway. She initially turned them away but they came back Thursday, January 9 asking to fill in some pot holes.

Once the job was done, she gave the men $140 and they left. She then called 911 and reported the fact she believed she was scammed.

When she and her son-in-law Fred Steiner went to check on the driveway, they discovered puddles of liquid and right underneath the newly paved driveway, was dirt.

It reminds me of some kind of used motor oil or a hydraulic fluid. It doesn't smell like what you would put on a driveway, Steiner said. It seems like theres a lot of water in it, said her son-in-law, Fred Steiner.

"It's beautiful when it's done but the first rain will wash it away," said investigator Laura Soulier with the Mobile County Sheriffs Office.

She said driveway scams happen often and the best thing to remember is youre in control.

Your driveway scammers will do as little work as possible and they'll threaten you. I'm telling seniors its okay to say no, it's okay to talk it over with somebody, Soulier said.

She advises calling police if youre unsure about a business practice and believe it could be a scam.

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Driveway scammers use diesel fuel