SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. -- Mae Pollard said she was happy when a contractor knocked on her door, said he had leftover asphalt and offered to pave her driveway.

“He got her out of the house and showed her how bad her driveway looked and said, ‘You really ought to buy this load from me for $1,300,’” said Pollard’s daughter, Tammy Coffey.

But after paving a small section, she said he came back and said it was a bigger job than he thought. The price jumped to $3,200, she said, and her mother only had $3,100 to her name.

He took it, she said.

“I had trouble writing the check (because the price was so high),” said Pollard. “I misspelled his first name and his last name.”

The check was made out to Alexander Cooper and was cashed immediately.

Pollard said his white truck had New York plates and had Cooper Paving written on it.

When Coffey saw the work, she said not only was the price thousands too high, but as a former dump truck driver, she knew the work was shoddy and probably wouldn't last the winter.

“They don't want to have to go back to the asphalt plant to dump it, because they paid for it once it's in the truck,” said Coffey. “So they scam people. Unfortunately, my mom was one that got scammed.”

When the Channel 3 I-Team started digging, it found a reputable local contractor who said he was approached by Alexander Cooper and offered a load of asphalt.

“(He’s) kind of a tall guy, blondish hair,” said Roy Jones, of Manchester, Conn. “He was from Naugatuck. That's what he told me.”

But the I-Team found no Alexander Cooper and no Cooper Paving in Naugatuck, or anywhere else.

And the I-Team isn’t the only group looking. The South Windsor Police Department is, too.

“There definitely were laws which were broken, just in the way he conducted the transaction,” said South Windsor Sgt. Scott Custer. “For instance, he set one price and did half the job and doubled the price, so obviously there's some fraud there.”

There also may be criminal violations of the home improvement laws, which is why the Department of Consumer Protection is investigating, too.

Department authorities said paving scams are common every summer and warn consumers to get written quotes, check references and, most of all, never give money to anyone who isn't registered with the state.

“When you use a registered person, you're guaranteeing the fact that you should have access to the Home Improvement Guarantee Fund, which is there for poor workmanship issues,” said DCP Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. “If there are issues of making a deposit and work not getting done, you can get $15,000 of your money back.”