More instances of possible scams involving asphalt work reported

The Sheriff’s Office has taken three reports in the last three weeks regarding unusual and suspicious incidents of asphalt workers arriving at businesses or organizations in the Lower and Middle Keys and doing work unsolicited, then demanding payment.  

The Sheriff’s Office reminds residents and business owners to always verify that any contractor is licensed and report work that is unauthorized or under code.

In each case, the man or men approaching the businesses all gave different names. Thus far, detectives have found that one of the men in the last case in Marathon was cited for asphalt-related fraud in Miami in 2011. Each of these cases remains under investigation unless annotated otherwise:

• Dec. 19, Mangrove Mama’s, Sugarloaf Key: The manager at the restaurant reported that two men arrived in a white Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle whilst claiming to do asphalt work. The manager requested an estimate, but the men provided none. The manager said the men came back later with a crew of four men and began asphalting the front parking lot. The manager stated he never authorized the work. When they were done the suspects requested $12,000 in payment. The manager refused, stating he never authorized the work. The men then lowered their price to $4,000. The manager again refused to pay and called the Sheriff’s Office.

• Dec. 19, Key West: The City of Key West posted a scam alert to their Facebook social media page warning the community to beware of an unlicensed company claiming to have extra asphalt and soliciting paving jobs. The City of Key West states the work is not up to code and the company is not licensed by the state.

• Dec. 27, Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key: The resort owner reported that a man came to the resort to do asphalt work. The man stated he had left-over asphalt and they agreed to a price of $7,500 to have several sections of road inside the resort paved. The work was done, but then the man changed the price to $14,000. The price was then changed to $13,000. The owner paid the $13,000, but felt it was a possible scam after hearing of similar asphalt-related complaints in the Keys.

• Dec. 31, American Legion 4115, Marathon: A man arrived at the Legion and told the Commander he had some extra asphalt left over from a job and asked if the Commander wanted it. The Commander agreed assuming the asphalt was free. The man paved the north side of the Legion and paved a road to the back of the building. The man then demanded $9,000. The Commander said he never entered into a contract with the man or agreed to pay $9,000. The Commander said the man took it upon himself to spread the asphalt and demanded the $9,000. Meanwhile, a finance manager at the Legion paid the $9,000 assuming that the Commander approved the work.