By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com
May 3, 2006
In urban areas it can be expensive to get rid of your trash, so when
someone offers to take it off your hands for what seems like a small
fee, it's best to be more than a little suspicious.
In California, scammers have latched onto trash hauling as their latest money-making scheme.
Police in an area south of San Francisco have linked an outbreak of illegal trash dumping with the scam.
Authorities tracked down a local resident whose name and phone number were on papers found in some trash dropped on the banks of the San Benito River.
The person told authorities a man in a truck offered to take her garbage to the landfill for $20. She said she paid him the money, but obviously the trash never made it to the landfill, which charges a fee to dispose of trash.
Before paying someone to haul garbage away, authorities say you should make sure they have a business or contractors license.
They may take your garbage away as promised, but some jurisdictions may begin holding consumers responsible if it can be proved it was their garbage dumped on the side of the road.
