Tarmac scam explained

The tarmac scam is a confidence trick in which criminals sell fake or shoddy tarmac (asphalt) and driveway resurfacing. It is particularly common in Europe but practiced worldwide.[1] Other names include the paving scam, tarmacking, the asphalt scam, driveway fraud or similar variants. Non-English names include "Italian: Truffa dell'asfalto|italic=no" (Italian), "German: Teerkolonne|italic=no" (German) and "French: faux bitumeurs|italic=no" (French).[2] [3] [4]

Method

A conman typically goes door-to-door, claiming to be a builder working on a contract who has some leftover tarmac, and offering to pave a driveway at a low cost.[5]

The paving is in fact often simply gravel chippings covered with engine oil, or not the right depth and type of materials to form a lasting road surface. Milk has been used to make a fake sealant.[6] [7]

The conmen may target elderly, vulnerable residents,[8] [9] and claim to be official contractors working on roadworks to add credibility.[10] Reported escalation has included increasing the cost, claiming that the job has required more material than expected, and making threats.[11] [12] [13]

Criminals

Tarmac fraud is particularly associated with the Rathkeale Rovers and other gangs from the Irish traveller community.[14] [15] [16] [17] The organiser of the scheme may lead a gang of low-paid workers, or human trafficking victims.[18] [19] Cases have been reported since the 1980s.[20] [21] [22] [23]

Irish crime reporter Eamon Dillon, an expert on the gangs involved, interviewed a builder who worked with a gang who said that they had custom-built lorries which could never do a proper job: "a proper tarring lorry will have sixty jets, our tar lorries have eight". In another case, the equipment was rented in Romania and then never returned. Another gang used a lorry with Highways Agency branding.

The relative mundanity of tarmacking may have made it a low priority for law enforcement. Dillon has estimated that the scheme may earn up to $140 million a year and that in 2010 there were 20 gangs active in Italy alone, earning €2 million a week.[24]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Homans . Charles . The Dead Zoo Gang: On the trail of international horn thieves . . 17 March 2014 . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908225905/https://magazine.atavist.com/dead-zoo-gang/ . live .
  2. Book: Dillon . Eamon . Gypsy empire: uncovering the hidden world of Ireland's Travellers . 2013 . London . 9781848271692 . 204–213 . 11 September 2021 . 12 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210912223339/https://books.google.com/books?id=mcqRAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA204 . live .
  3. Web site: Willsher . Kim . Carroll . Rory . Eight men convicted in French court for trafficking rhino horn and ivory . The Guardian . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908221942/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/08/eight-men-convicted-in-french-court-for-trafficking-rhino-horn-and-ivory . live .
  4. Web site: Les faux "bitumeurs irlandais" enrobent de nouvelles victimes . . 11 September 2021 . 11 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210911041449/https://www.lindependant.fr/2012/05/28/les-bitumeurs-irlandais-de-retour,141418.php . live .
  5. Web site: Mead . Matthew . Tarmac Scam Operating in North Shropshire . Hugo Fox . Bomere Heath & District Parish Council . 12 September 2021 . 12 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210912225453/https://www.hugofox.com/community/bomere-heath-district-parish-council-10134/news/tarmac-scam-operating-in-north-shropshire-11920 . live .
  6. News: Tomney family from Cleveleys jailed for driveway fraud . BBC News . 7 November 2011 . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908234156/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-15622785 . live .
  7. Web site: Day . Tim . "What's going on 'ere, then?" An empirical exploration of the anatomy of rogue trading incidents . . 11 September 2021 . 11 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210911043033/https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/whats-going-on-ere-then . live .
  8. Web site: Stanleys convicted in paving scams . Nashua Telegraph . 9 September 2021 . 2 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190902213713/http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/local-news/2010/12/27/9-stanleys-convicted-in-paving-scams . live .
  9. Book: Alt . Betty Sowers . Fleecing grandma and grandpa : protecting against scams, cons, and frauds . 2004 . Praeger . Westport, Conn. . 9780275981792 . 11 September 2021 . 11 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210911050023/https://books.google.com/books?id=-wQlCXZllv8C&pg=PA26 . live .
  10. Web site: Tarmac scam . Construction News . 4 May 2006 . 12 September 2021 . 12 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210912225453/https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/archive/tarmac-scam-04-05-2006/ . live .
  11. Web site: Penman . Andrew . Meet the conman who took the old driveway resurfacing scam to new lows . Daily Mirror . 5 September 2018 . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908223734/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/meet-conman-who-took-old-13196911 . live .
  12. Web site: Tarmac Scam Warning . News.wales . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908223726/http://news.wales/news/14572-tarmac-scam-warning.html . live .
  13. Web site: Tarmac scam artists continue . . 11 September 2021 . 11 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210911043038/https://www.farmersjournal.ie/tarmac-scam-artists-continue-155913 . live .
  14. News: The Irish Clan Behind Europe's Rhino-Horn Theft Epidemic . Higginbotham . Adam . Bloomberg.com . 2 January 2014 . 5 March 2014 . 18 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140218024259/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-02/the-irish-clan-behind-europes-rhino-horn-theft-epidemic#p3 . dead .
  15. News: Foy . Ken . From rhino horn theft to tarmac scams and now forged Covid test results – the Rathkeale Rovers gang's criminal reach extends worldwide . Independent . 8 September 2021 . 30 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930211454/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/from-rhino-horn-theft-to-tarmac-scams-and-now-forged-covid-test-results-the-rathkeale-rovers-gangs-criminal-reach-extends-worldwide-40041966.html . live .
  16. Web site: Dillon . Eamon . 'From Africa to Iceland, Norway to New Zealand, Rathkeale Rovers' Travellers have dealt in everything from tarmac to rhino horn' . . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908224328/https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/world-crime/from-africa-to-iceland-norway-to-new-zealand-rathkeale-rovers-travellers-have-dealt-in-everything-from-tarmac-to-rhino-horn-40059841.html . live .
  17. Web site: Dillon . Eamon . Arrest warrants issued for Irish trio in France after being convicted over tarmacking scam . . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908230201/https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/irish-crime/arrest-warrants-issued-for-irish-trio-in-france-after-being-convicted-over-tarmacking-scam-40690344.html . live .
  18. News: Simpson . John . Schlesinger . Fay . British men trafficked abroad by slave gangs . The Times . 9 September 2021 . 9 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210909184956/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-men-trafficked-abroad-by-slave-gangs-xr70v3wmmwv . live .
  19. News: Holt . Alison . British men forced into 'modern slavery' abroad . BBC News . February 2012 . 9 September 2021 . 9 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210909184956/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16836065 . live .
  20. Book: Mandelstam . Michael . Safeguarding adults and the law . 2013 . Jessica Kingsley Publishers . London . 9780857006264 . 2nd . 11 September 2021 . 11 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221111210727/https://books.google.com/books?id=gInmd8VDlIsC&pg=PA616 . live .
  21. News: Gypsy Paver Season Here . 11 September 2021 . Michigan Roads & Construction . 5 June 1980.
  22. Web site: Gang in pounds 2m tarmac fraud jailed . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/gang-in-pounds-2m-tarmac-fraud-jailed-1441296.html . 2022-05-26 . subscription . live . . 5 October 1994 . 8 September 2021.
  23. Web site: Honours for work of police officers . . 9 May 2002 . 11 September 2021 . 11 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210911043029/https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7350784.honours-for-work-of-police-officers/ . live .
  24. Web site: Dillon . Eamon . Irish travellers from Rathkeale hit Italian and French householders in tarmac scam . 8 September 2021 . 8 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908225908/https://www.dilloninvestigates.com/2010/02/irish-travellers-rathkeale-hit-italian-french-householders-tarmac-scam/ . live .

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