OUACHITA PARISH -- Officials are still warning of a new scam in the area involving asphalt work.
The scammers go door to door, asking to perform work on the drive-way, roof or gutters.
Local law officials are calling it a scam because the work doesn't match up with the money they're making people pay. On Wednesday, more people have fallen victim to the scammers.
One Ouachita Parish resident David Wood is breathing a little easier, thankful he didn't get duped.
"It just didn't look legit so I told them I didn't need their services," said Wood.
Wood says he was watching NBC 10's report on the scam Tuesday evening, when he heard a knock at his door.
"That was them sitting in my drive way trying to sell me some black top," he said.
It's group law enforcement is calling "gypsy travelers." They go town to town, door to door, aasking to re-do a driveway with the leftover asphalt in the back of a truck.
"For somebody to have to go door to door and ask to do work like that? I assumed by then they weren't legit," Wood said.
Wood called the Better Business Bureau as soon as he asked the scammers to leave his property -- and just in time, too. The scammers made it to his neighbor's house down the street on Prairie Road Wednesday. NBC 10 pulled up as Ouachita Parish Sheriff deputies ran them off before the finish the job was done.
"I would expect the same from them if they knew it was a scam," said Wood.
The homeowner says the group seemed legitimate, presenting business cards, machinery, and even t-shirts with their 800-number on it. But when you take a look at the work they performed, OPSO says it looks as if they laid a thin layer of gravel down and essentially painted over it. Even the BBB says in some cases, grass can grow straight through it and the drive-way crumbles away after a few months.
"What they were doing is not going to hold up in this ground out here," said Wood.
Luckily, Wood's neighbor says he never gave the scammers the $1,000 they asked for.
"A business card does not constitute a registered business," said Jo Ann Deal, president and CEO of the BBB in Monroe. "Sign contracts, get estimates, use people you know. You will not be satisfied with the black top after they leave, and then you'll have no recourse. Your money will be gone."
Deal says they usually get calls around this time of year on these type of scams during home improvement season.
"There's a reason why they don't have a brick and mortar establishment and that's probably because they don't do business according to the rules," she said.
In the last two weeks, officials says folks in the Monroe area to as far as LaSalle Parish called in reports of the asphalt scammers, some losing up to $10,000 in the scam. Throughout Wednesday, the BBB reported people as far as Grayson and Olla seeing the asphalt crews at their doorsteps.
"You'll get a lot less than what you should and the product and service are not guaranteed," Deal said.
The BBB says Monroe has an ordinance prohibiting door-to-door selling without an appointment, but that ordinance does not apply to the parish. Deal says hopefully citizens can reach out to lawmakers to help implement stricter laws and fines against con-artists that look for targets outside city limits.
"It's very important that consumers on back roads tell neighbors not to use these people," said Deal. "Otherwise, they will come back year after year."
Parish deputies say groups like these are well versed in the law and often stay on the edge of getting arrested.
"The laws are not tough enough in our area for an arrest, the fines are not in place," said Deal.
Wood says seeing the out-of-state plates on the vehicles is all he needed to know.
"If I'm going to do business with somebody, it's going to be local. We've got too many contractors out here who are legit," he said. "And all this does is hurt everybody else in this area that's trying to do right with their business."
If you run into a scam like this or any other incident, please call the Better Business Bureau at 318-387-4600.
The scammers go door to door, asking to perform work on the drive-way, roof or gutters.
Local law officials are calling it a scam because the work doesn't match up with the money they're making people pay. On Wednesday, more people have fallen victim to the scammers.
One Ouachita Parish resident David Wood is breathing a little easier, thankful he didn't get duped.
"It just didn't look legit so I told them I didn't need their services," said Wood.
Wood says he was watching NBC 10's report on the scam Tuesday evening, when he heard a knock at his door.
"That was them sitting in my drive way trying to sell me some black top," he said.
It's group law enforcement is calling "gypsy travelers." They go town to town, door to door, aasking to re-do a driveway with the leftover asphalt in the back of a truck.
"For somebody to have to go door to door and ask to do work like that? I assumed by then they weren't legit," Wood said.
Wood called the Better Business Bureau as soon as he asked the scammers to leave his property -- and just in time, too. The scammers made it to his neighbor's house down the street on Prairie Road Wednesday. NBC 10 pulled up as Ouachita Parish Sheriff deputies ran them off before the finish the job was done.
"I would expect the same from them if they knew it was a scam," said Wood.
The homeowner says the group seemed legitimate, presenting business cards, machinery, and even t-shirts with their 800-number on it. But when you take a look at the work they performed, OPSO says it looks as if they laid a thin layer of gravel down and essentially painted over it. Even the BBB says in some cases, grass can grow straight through it and the drive-way crumbles away after a few months.
"What they were doing is not going to hold up in this ground out here," said Wood.
Luckily, Wood's neighbor says he never gave the scammers the $1,000 they asked for.
"A business card does not constitute a registered business," said Jo Ann Deal, president and CEO of the BBB in Monroe. "Sign contracts, get estimates, use people you know. You will not be satisfied with the black top after they leave, and then you'll have no recourse. Your money will be gone."
Deal says they usually get calls around this time of year on these type of scams during home improvement season.
"There's a reason why they don't have a brick and mortar establishment and that's probably because they don't do business according to the rules," she said.
In the last two weeks, officials says folks in the Monroe area to as far as LaSalle Parish called in reports of the asphalt scammers, some losing up to $10,000 in the scam. Throughout Wednesday, the BBB reported people as far as Grayson and Olla seeing the asphalt crews at their doorsteps.
"You'll get a lot less than what you should and the product and service are not guaranteed," Deal said.
The BBB says Monroe has an ordinance prohibiting door-to-door selling without an appointment, but that ordinance does not apply to the parish. Deal says hopefully citizens can reach out to lawmakers to help implement stricter laws and fines against con-artists that look for targets outside city limits.
"It's very important that consumers on back roads tell neighbors not to use these people," said Deal. "Otherwise, they will come back year after year."
Parish deputies say groups like these are well versed in the law and often stay on the edge of getting arrested.
"The laws are not tough enough in our area for an arrest, the fines are not in place," said Deal.
Wood says seeing the out-of-state plates on the vehicles is all he needed to know.
"If I'm going to do business with somebody, it's going to be local. We've got too many contractors out here who are legit," he said. "And all this does is hurt everybody else in this area that's trying to do right with their business."
If you run into a scam like this or any other incident, please call the Better Business Bureau at 318-387-4600.
