French police warn against so-called ‘Irish/English asphalt scam’

Indre-et-Loire police have alerted residents to a possible scam in which people offer to tarmac residents’ driveways, gardens or paths for a low fee but end up charging significantly more and using poor quality tar.

The scammers are known as Irish or English asphalters (bitumeurs irlandais ou anglais).

They have reportedly been seen going door-to-door offering the service in the north of the department.

A resident of the village Beaumont-en-Véron in Indre-et-Loire wrote on Facebook that she saw them in her neighbourhood and wrote that they were “English”.

The Connexion cannot confirm if these scammers are actually British or Irish nationals.

The Indre-et-Loire gendarmerie stated on May 3:

“They offer to pave a driveway, courtyard or road at rock-bottom prices on the pretext that they want to get rid of surplus [tar] from a closed-down [construction] site. This attractive offer is in fact a scam.

“The tar laid is of poor quality and deteriorates in a few days. Also, the price charged at the end of the work may be higher than initially announced.”

The gendarmerie recommends that anyone looking to hire asphalters should make sure to request a proper quotation in advance of the job and compare market prices.

People running a similar scam last year were spotted in Landes in southwest France, and in Aisne and Marne in the northeast, French magazine Capital reported.

It wrote that the scammers were offering to lay tarmac for €15 per square metre, which is lower than the classic rate of €40.

Related stories

Mass attack on internet cables in France 'almost professional'

Payouts of up to €1m given for informing French tax office of frauds

Millions in France targeted in ‘well executed’ carte Vitale text scam