Concrete scam being reported across Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The Alabama Concrete Industries Association is warning Alabamians looking to purchase concrete to be careful who you buy from. The latest scam to hit the state is targeting ready-mix concrete companies.

The association reports more than $200,000 worth of concrete has been purchased by scammers using stolen credit cards and fake identification (ID) cards. The unknown scammer is then advertising the concrete on social media at a much lower price than reputable concrete companies can offer. Homeowners who answer the concrete ad will then purchase the cheaper concrete from the unknown source.

Once the victim of the stolen credit card receives notification of the purchase of the concrete on their card and reports the unauthorized purchase, the credit card company demands restitution from the concrete company.

“I never thought someone would try to scam a concrete company but we’re seeing it happen every day,” said John Sorrell, President of the Alabama Concrete Industries Association. “The largest one I’m aware of was in Dothan right at $45,000. This is taking money out of state-owned or locally-owned ready-mix companies that there’s really no recourse for the company.”

Industry leaders have now requested the help of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) to investigate this scam.

Sorrell said the scam is taking place across the south and that right now they really don’t know how to stop it except to alert these concrete companies to avoid payment over the phone.

They urge people in the community to hire a licensed general contractor or purchase your concrete from a reputable concrete finishing company.

“Our main message to people is if you’ve done some checking and you’ve quoted numbers that are significantly higher than what they’ve advertised on Facebook, if it looks too good to be true it probably is,” Sorrell said.

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