Warren County sheriff’s deputies are investigating a possible home improvement scam in the area where residents were approached Monday by a group representing themselves as a driveway sealing company.

Deputies recently issued an advisory warning after two police reports were filed – one from an elderly woman in Rockfield and the other from a household in the Cumberland Trace area, according to Maj. Randy Hargis, chief deputy with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department.

The suspects sought in these cases are reportedly driving a white pickup truck, according to Hargis. A black Dodge pickup truck with Georgia license plates may also be involved.

The suspects give the homeowner a quote for sealing the driveway using a set amount of material at a set price. After the job is completed, the homeowner is told the job took twice the quoted product and the price of the worked performed doubles as well.

&#8220This is a typical type of scam used by traveling con artists who frequently prey on the elderly,” Hargis said.

Bob Appling, director of the Bowling Green-Warren County Contractors Licensing Board, says that it doesn’t take long to seal a driveway and local authorities only catch the culprits by luck.

The CLB said that the woman in Rockfield is out $800, after she was initially told by the suspects they could seal her driveway for $8 a gallon. She was charged for 100 gallons, according to the board.

According to Detective James &#8220B.B.” Davis, situations with &#8220fly-by-night” contractors are sometimes considered as theft by deception cases, especially if substandard work was performed.

&#8220We had an occasion where people would hire someone to paint a barn and as soon as it would rain the paint would run,” Davis said. &#8220Victims don’t realize until a day or so later that it was a scam of some sort.”

&#8220Everything that is cheap is not always in your best interest. Contact people who are reputable and local,” Davis said. &#8220You pay for what you get. I wouldn’t recommend anybody dealing with these people who are out-of-staters, who have no license. If any problems arise, you have no way of contacting them.”

Davis believes the Rockfield case will end up being in civil court, since the victim was given a bill for the amount of the service that had been rendered.

&#8220By (the victim) giving a check, (the suspect) more or less agreed to a contract,” Davis said.

Linda Chambers, director of the local office of the Better Business Bureau, remembers when a similar home improvement incident happened last fall in the Glasgow area.

&#8220It happens every spring, every fall, people just coming through. … They travel around and try to make money off of people constantly,” Chambers said.

Chambers said the reason why home improvement scams are cyclical or mostly reported during the spring and summer is because that’s when many homeowners are busy with residential projects.

&#8220The best thing to remember is that if someone is soliciting you, you need to be leery of them,” Chambers said.

Look for credentials, references and key indicators that someone may not be legitimate, Chambers said, before forking over any money.

&#8220If someone is riding around in a truck that doesn’t have their name on it, that’s a red flag,” Chambers said.

Chambers said often those who are victims of home improvement scams think they are getting a deal, but said by cutting corners you risk losing more money than if you would have gone the standard way of completing a project.

&#8220Something for nothing just doesn’t happen,” Chambers said.

Appling said it is always a safe bet to check if they’re a licensed contractor in Warren County by calling the Contractors Licensing Board.

Obtaining a firm estimate of how much a project will cost in writing that should have a telephone number and a physical address – not a P.O. Box – are also important to remember.

Chambers said residents can even check www.bbb.org, the Better Business Bureau’s Web site, to see if a contractor or company has received any complaints or is being investigated.

Anyone approached by individuals matching the description of the suspects should contact the Warren County Sheriff’s Department at 842-1633.

Avoid being scammed:

€Be wary of door-to-door contractors.

€Make sure a contractor is licensed to perform work in Warren County by calling the Contractors Licensing Board at 781-3530.

€Check with the Better Business Bureau at 781-8445 to see if any complaints or investigations are pending against a contractor.

€Make sure to get a firm estimate of the project’s total cost.

€Obtain complete identification, including address and phone numbers.

€Ask for references where work was recently performed.

€Never do business with anyone trying to pressure you.