Police have been investigating a number of home improvement scams in the past week, in which people posing as contractors show up unannounced at houses and try to convince homeowners to pay them for improvement work.

Trooper Charles Swiney, spokesman for Kentucky State Police Post 3, said the scammers typically offer to do home improvement work for a fee, only to do poor quality work that often goes unfinished.

“What they’ll try to do is talk (homeowners) into paying up front to pick up supplies from one of the home improvement stores, maybe come back and do a little work, break for lunch and never show up again,” Swiney said.

Some of the scams that police have been made aware of include barn painting in which the coat of paint comes off during the first rain, driveway sealing in which the sealant has large amounts of kerosene in the mixture and disappears after a couple of rains, blacktopping in which the blacktop is only a half-inch thick in most areas and roof repairs where the scam artist offers a free roof inspection, intentionally damages the roof and then requests to fix it.

The scammers have been preying on the elderly and drive late-model pickup trucks with South Carolina license plates, Swiney said.

“Our captain has seen them out at local motels on Scottsville Road and they’ve been spotted in the Alvaton area, looking for victims,” Swiney said.

If home improvement workers show up at your door, there are ways to find out if they are legitimate.

Swiney said contractors are required to pay for a contractor’s license through the city, so homeowners should ask to see a contractor’s license.

“If somebody comes to the door unannounced like that, not only look at the people but also the vehicles they’re traveling in,” Swiney said. “If they say they’re there to clean gutters out and they don’t have ladders or any equipment like that, it may be an obvious sign they’re up to no good.”

— To report a home improvement scam, contact the Kentucky State Police at 782-2010 or the Warren County Sheriff’s Office at 842-1633.