Tasmania Police issue warning on driveway scam

Tasmania Police is warning the public about a new scam involving dishonest tradies who won’t take no for an answer.

BE wary of tradies with foreign accents knocking on your door offering to reseal your driveway and not taking no for an answer, says Tasmania Police.

Police issued a warning about dishonest tradespeople after the driveway scam came to their attention recently.

Detective Sergeant Michelle Elmer said complaints had been received from residents and businesses in the North West of the state involving supposed tradespeople offering to seal and fix their driveways.

“In these cases, the work has been completed despite the work initially being declined,” she said.

“The work completed has been of poor quality and they have charged highly inflated prices. “The scammers spoke with English or Irish accents and used high pressure sales tactics saying they had leftover asphalt from a previous job which could be used for driveways.

“They have attempted to intimidate and threaten people out of their money, demanding immediate payment by cash or bank transfer.

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“In these cases the scammers have provided what appears to be a legitimate business card and invoice.”

The public is being urged to be wary of unsolicited approaches of this nature and to contact Tasmania Police if they feel unsafe or threatened.

Anyone who has been scammed or approached can report the incident to scamwatch.gov.au.

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