RCMP are warning property owners of paving contractor scams following several incidents this summer across western Alberta.

Mounties say the travelling companies that pose as legitimate contractors offer paving or sometimes roof sealing services typically to senior citizens in rural communities.

The individuals typically give few details about their identity and use nondescript vehicles rarely bearing commercial logos.

The contractors usually claim to have leftover asphalt from previous jobs and promise to provide quality services, however the product used is believed to be cold, recycled asphalt or a gravel and oil mixture with no lasting properties.

The use of the shoddy material results in the asphalt falling apart once it is driven on. By that time, these fraudsters are long gone, disappearing with their payment before the customer realizes they have been scammed.

Mounties add that if a contractors services sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

The Alberta RCMP is working with the Alberta Consumer Investigation Unit  to counter this trend.