Residents are being warned there are bogus tradesmen operating in the area.
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Moruya’s Ken Weston is out of pocket after being conned by bogus bitumen layers, known as the “Bitumen Bandits”.
Not only has he lost $1500, but also he now has a driveway that will crumble within weeks, has grass growing through it and loose large rocks.
Police have one other confirmed report of the scamps conning a resident in the Moruya industrial area and one unconfirmed report of them targeting residents near the Moruya rubbish dump.
Mr Weston said two men with Irish accents approached him as he walked out of his house on February 9, and offered to lay a bitumen driveway from the road to the house.
He said the men arrived in a truck with gravel and tar in the back, ready to do a job.
“They said they had it left over from a job nearby,” Mr Weston said.
“They wanted $3000 first-up.”
“They told me it usually costs $65 per metre but they could do the job for $15 per metre. They said they had been working in Mogo.”
Mr Weston negotiated with the men to do the job for $1500 cash.
“It only took them half an hour,” he said.
Mr Weston said he left his house to get the money out of the bank while the men worked on the driveway.
Local asphalt laying company Downer EDi Works at Bimbimbie charges between $15 and $35 per square metre to lay bitumen driveways.
A Downer EDi spokesman said this was not the first time the group had targeted this area. He said Downer EDi had been contacted last year by a Lilli Pilli resident who had been conned and requested quotes to fix a dodgy driveway job.
The spokesman said Downer EDi used hot spray bitumen while the bandits used a cool spray. Downer EDi does two coats and the bandits do one coat.
He said it would cost the bandits $2 for the products they used.
The NSW Office of Fair Trading issued an alert last week, warning NSW residents there were “Bitumen Bandits” operating in Taree, Old Bar and Tinonee.
Fair Trading Minister Lyn Baker said the bandits were the subjects of an ongoing investigation by the office.
“These rogues seem to prefer rural areas or housing estates where the homes have a substantial unpaved driveway from the street to the dwelling,” she said.
“These traders have been known to drive consumers to their bank to withdraw cash or to cash a cheque.
“Their work is always substandard and usually fails completely within two or three weeks.”